A West Cumbrian soup kitchen is going from strength to strength thanks to a new cooker provided by the Cumberland Building Society.
Workington’s Northside Community Centre, in Trinity Drive, typically serves 30 bowls of soup every Wednesday to people in need of warming nourishment.
The Cumberland came to the rescue after its old cooker conked out.
Carly Hodgson, general manager at Northside Community Centre, said: “The Cumberland has helped us a lot because, without a working cooker, we were having to buy-in soup rather than make it ourselves.
“We also had plans for a children’s after-school tea club, which we couldn’t start without replacing the cooker, and we have a youth club on a Friday where they were using the cooker to bake.”
The Cumberland is donating £500,000 over two years to its Kinder Kind of Kitchen initiative, in partnership with FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria, to tackle food poverty through community foodbanks and hubs.
The money for Northside came from a pot raised at the Society’s annual general meeting in July. The Cumberland pledged £2 for every vote cast at the AGM bringing in £15,252, which was earmarked for equipment for food groups.
Thirty-three groups across Cumbria and Lancashire benefited, receiving more than 300 items including 75 air fryers, 53 slow cookers, five catering-size urns, three bread makers, two cookers, two freezers and one undercounter fridge as well as microwaves, toasters, kettles, a panini maker and a smoothie maker.
The recipients include Supper’s Up, a soup kitchen in Preston, which took delivery of a catering urn and hundreds of extra takeaway cups.
Food for Thought, in Lancaster, received a food dehydrator to help it preserve and extend the usable life of produce while Oasis Pantry, in Carlisle, was given a smoothie maker and three catering urns.
Meanwhile, Calderwood House homeless hostel in Egremont, Shap Primary School and Sahara, which works with ethnic minority communities in Lancashire, each received a new bread maker.
Claire Deekes, chief customer officer at The Cumberland, said: “Our purpose is to create a banking experience that is kinder to people and the planet and that includes looking out for the communities we serve.
“Our charitable giving is kinder banking in action. It’s gratifying to hear from food groups like Northside Community Centre that we’re having a real impact.”
A £6,758 surplus from the equipment fund has been donated to other parts of FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria which is run by the Recycling Lives charity.
Naomi Winter, community food member co-ordinator at FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria, said: “Every item supplied will help our members to feed and support people in need.
“Some will be using their new equipment to provide additional or alternative meals or drinks, others will use it to run classes or offer training opportunities. We’re so grateful to The Cumberland for their support.”
