Feeding those in need since 2015 TRUSTEES ’ ANNUAL REPORT 2022
Who are we?
Salaam Shalom Kitchen Nottingham A joint Muslim / Jewish charity project We are a joint Muslim/Jewish project founded on the belief that working together across communities and perceived boundaries helps build community cohesion and break down barriers.
Our Ethos
To bring together volunteers from many communities, to make friends and work together for social change.
The Need
2020 the need has increased hugely and are now providing 140-180meals each week, with many more people affected by food poverty.
Contents Page
▪ Messages from our Co- Chairs 4 ▪ Our Objectives 6 ▪ Our Activities 7 ▪ The Effect of the Pandemic 9 ▪ Our Amazing Volunteers 11 ▪ Achievements and Performance 13 ▪ Donations and your support 16 ▪ Celebrating Success 17 ▪ Structure, governance, and management 18 ▪ Financial review 18
– A MESSAGE FROM OUR CO CHAIRS
Sajid Mohammed Karen Worth CO-CHA IR CO-CHA IR
This past year, with the rising cost of living, fuel bill increases, and difficulties arising from the covid pandemic and Brexit has been difficult for everyone, but especially for people in the deprived inner city communities that we serve. We are proud to say Salaam Shalom Kitchen has continued to work together and offered a beacon of hope in 20212022 to all those who needed us.
Many people are now in food poverty due to cuts in benefits and services. This has become more severe with more people who are in paid work also needing assistance, due to low pay and rising food prices.
Salaam Shalom Kitchen serves those in need in our community but also helps those who volunteer in the project, by building friendships across perceived barriers and giving additional meaning and purpose to our lives. There are over 100 people who have volunteered at SaSh kitchen during this time.
We are very grateful and humbled by the tremendous generosity and support which has been provided to SaSh Kitchen through donations of money, time and gifts, from individuals, groups and charitable trusts. Your impact on those most in need has truly been life changing for many. Thank you for all you do and for your consistent support. Over the period that this report covers we have served an amazing 7000+ meals and provided over 3,000 bags of groceries. We think Sash Kitchen is making a small but meaningful difference, in Nottingham, in many people’s lives. | 04 We want to thank everyone who has helped over this year and hope you will continue to support us to continue to serve and grow the project in the coming year.
“ These are the best friends I could ever have. They look after me and they feed ” me
Our Objectives
Our main objective is to help to relieve food poverty in Nottingham.
To help break down isolation and loneliness for service users, by providing a warm and friendly environment every week for people to attend for a hot meal and to build connections and friendships.
We work to build cohesion and understanding primarily between the Muslim and Jewish Community in Nottingham but also building links with other faith and non-faith groups.
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Our Activities
Each week people work together preparing and cooking food, and creating a friendly welcoming environment for our guests. Working together cooperatively in this way allows us to understand each other better and build cohesion between individuals and groups. It allows many groups and individuals who would not otherwise mix or get to know each other to build better understanding and friendships. Students are enabled to integrate and be involved in the community in which they are living and to give back to that community.
This year the demand has continued to grow and we are providing between 140-170 hot meals each week. We have many regulars who attend every week and who have developed friendships/connections with others who attend the project. The people attending have continued to change over the past year and has included many more families and people from different communities.
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Every Wednesday between 5-7 pm we provide a hot meal to people from the local community, who are in need. Anyone is welcome to attend. No one is turned away nor have to provide evidence of need. People have diverse range of needs and issues, including: mental health problems, substance misuse issues, food poverty, asylum seekers and refugees, recent immigrants from Eastern Europe especially Polish/Lithuanian, and Roma community, many of whom speak little English. Elderly and isolated individuals also attend. Mostly adults attend but an increasing number of families with children are making use of our service, as the cost of living crisis hits more people. People are signposted from other organisations such as Nottingham refugee forum (NNRF), Prostitute Outreach workers (POW), Framework, local GPs and community groups, or word of mouth.
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The Effect of the Pandemic
Many people are now in food poverty due to cuts in benefits and services. This has become more acute during the Covid Pandemic, with more people who are in paid work needing assistance due to low pay and rising food prices.
This year the demand has grown hugely, and we are now providing 140-170 hot meals each week.
We are now using almost entirely surplus supermarket waste food to cook with and give out 80+ bags of groceries per week.
The project serves from The Bridge Centre, Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham NG7 5JA, but during the covid pandemic we moved all the cooking and grocery sorting to Nottingham Liberal Synagogue. Since May 2022 we returned to the Bridge Centre.
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Many people are lonely and isolated and have benefitted from having a regular weekly meeting to break down this social isolation. This was particular severe during covid lockdown periods but was an issue before covid also.
Many groups/individuals are marginalised from mainstream society and find it hard to integrate into existing services. This project offers them an easy to access, reliable weekly place to meet others and to eat a hot, nutritious meal.
Our Amazing Volunteers
We have volunteers from lots of different organisations and also many individuals not aligned to organisations. Groups include, but are not limited to:, Catholics from St Barnabus Cathedral; Trent and Nottingham University students; several different Muslim organisations including Himmah, Pakistan Forum; Nottingham Liberal synagogue. Many individuals come regularly every week to volunteer.
Each week people work together preparing and cooking food, and creating a friendly welcoming environment for our guests. Working together cooperatively in this way allows us to understand each other better and build cohesion between individuals and groups. It allows many groups and individuals who would not otherwise mix or get to know each other to build better understanding and friendships. Students are enabled to integrate and be involved in the community in which they are living and to give back to that community.
Some of our ‘guests’ also volunteer at the project so the barrier between workers and service users is blurred and this helps with cohesion and breaking down barriers.
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Achievements and Performance
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic Salaam Shalom Kitchen continued to provide food for people in need and have continued to operate every Wednesday throughout the year.
Our operation had to change substantially as the premises of The Bridge Centre, which is owned by The United Reform Church closed in March 2020. We were able to move to Nottingham Liberal Synagogue to cook each week. The demand for food massively increased and so we responded by making an increasing number of meals. Prior to the pandemic, when we served food in person in a café environment, we would provide 50-70 meals each week. Throughout 2020-2022 we were cooking and giving out 140-170 takeaway meals each week. We have served a hot meal every week throughout the year regardless of the weather.
We provided in excess of 7,000 meals during the period between April 2021- March 22.
YOUR GIFTS IN ACTION
Your compassion and generosity provided help to those in need in our city with . . .
140-170 TAKEAWAY MEALS PER DAY
7,000 MEALS BETWEEN APR 21- MAR 22
80+ BAGS OF GROCERIES GIVEN OUT EACH WEEK
… . We had to adapt very quickly to the changing circumstances and have developed different teams of volunteers. We have a large pool of people who volunteer to help each week. This includes teams to help prepare and cook food at the synagogue under the guidance of our chef; a group who sort and bag up the donated groceries; a team to give out food at The Bridge and also drivers to collect donated food from supermarkets and transport hot food and donations between the venues. Each week there are between 25-30 people involved in helping provide the service. Over the period this report covers we have had more than 100 different individuals volunteer, Many are regular but some are ad hoc.
In addition to a hot meal we also gave out 80+ bags of groceries each week. The bags contain a range of grocery items and fresh food and bakery goods, some of which can be cooked at home. Some bags contain snack foods which do not require any preparation, especially to give to street homeless people or anyone who doesn’t have or use cooking facilities. We also have a table of fresh fruit and vegetables which people are able to choose from if they wish.
The grocery items are from supermarket surplus donations and are collected from individual supermarkets via Neighbourly, by a group of willing drivers who do this each week. We have also signed up to Fareshare and pay to receive 80kg of surplus supermarket food each week.
Our hot meals are made almost entirely from surplus supermarket supplies thereby reducing waste and turning it into delicious food. We also aim to only use recyclable/ reusable packaging and takeaway products as much as possible to reduce our impact on the environment.
SASH on BBC News
In October 2021 the charity was featured on BBC news. It was highlighted it was a joint muslim and jewish charity and its thought to be one of the only charities of its kind in the UK. The video can be seen here
- Quotes from some of the visitors to SaSh: “Its like a family” “These are the best friends anyone could wish for” “I’m sure many places wish they could have an asset like this” | 15
Donations and your support
We have received small financial donations from individuals and organisations and have maintained a healthy bank balance throughout the year.
We have continued to keep our costs as low as possible by using donations from as many people/ agencies as possible. Food costs are kept extremely low by using surplus supermarket food donations. We also have received fresh vegetables from a local allotment group.
We continue to employ a worker who as a trained chef, organises the cooking at the project each week involving and directing the many volunteers. Everyone else at the project are volunteers.
The project continues to develop its links with other organisations and has continued to build its high standing and profile, within the community and the city of Nottingham.
We rely on donations and it is particularly helpful to have people signed up to donate regularly. Even £5 or £10 a month would make a big difference. To set up either a one-off or regular donation please go to: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/18557#!/DonationDetails
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Celebrating Success
In June 2022 we celebrated Salaam shalom kitchen’s 7[th] anniversary. We held a gathering and invited our volunteers to attend. The event was made all the more special as we were finally back in Bridge Centre. From May 2022 onwards we will be back serving hot meals indoors to those who want it, but still offering a take away service too.
Our steering group is robust and functioning well. We have 8 committed members of the steering group who have met regularly on zoom throughout the past year to
manage the general running of the project. We have 2 steering group members who attend the session each week to ensure smooth functioning.
Structure, Governance and Management Type of governing document – Constitution Charitable incorporated organisation
Trustee selection methods - Appointed by existing trustees.
Trustees
| Trustee name | Office(if any) |
|---|---|
| Karen Worth | Co-chair and treasurer |
| Sajid Mohammed | Co-chair |
| Bilal Hussain | |
| Tanya Sakhnovich |
|
| Eve Cina | |
| Andrea Chipman |
Financial Review
Our overall costs for the year 2021-2022 were £10,208. The charity’s reserve policy is to aim for at least 4months running costs in reserve. This equates to approx. £4,000.
We anticipate that our costs in the coming year will markedly increase as we will be paying rent again, and also due to the increase in food costs and wages.
We receive regular small individual donations and occasional more sizeable donations from groups.
We have used Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) for donations and receive regular and one-off donations from both individuals and groups via this. Gift Aid is therefore automatically collected.
If you would like to donate either by a one-off or regular donation please go to:
https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/18557#!/DonationDetails
Thank you for your support of The SaSh Kitchen! Together we are providing help and hope to people who are in need!
Bridge Centre Boulevard United Reformed Church, 49a Gregory Boulevard, Hyson Green, Nottingham NG7 5JA www.salaamshalomkitchen.co.uk i n f o @ salaamshalomkitchen.co.uk
Financial Statement 2021-2022
SALAAM SHALOM KITCHEN
INCOME
Income Category
| Donations (Virgin Money and regular electronic) | 8414.51 |
|---|---|
| Charitable Trust Donations | 0.00 |
| Misc. / Refunds | 30.00 |
| TOTAL 8444.51 |
|
EXPENDITURE
Expenses Category
| Wages | 2400.00 |
|---|---|
| Rent | 580.00 |
| food | 2904.42 |
| Volunteer expenses | 254.74 |
| Publicity | 369.55 |
| Equipment | 213.96 |
| Laundry | 185.00 |
| Miscellaneous | 298.34 |
| Take Away Packaging | 3001.90 |
| Total 10207.91 |
|
| Bank Reconciliation | |
| Opening balance 01/04/2020 | 11113.71 |
| Total Income | 8444.51 |
| Total Expenses | 10207.91 |
| New total | 9350.31 |
| Closing balance 31/03/2022 | 9350.31 |
Balance end of year
TOTAL BALANCE FOR 2021/2022 (DEFICIT) £ (1,763.40)