Dry run as Ossie’s Kitchen prepares to reopen
A GROUP of invited guests have been used as “guinea pigs” for a “dry run” as the award-winning community cafe project Ossie’s Kitchen finally prepares to reopen its doors to the public.
The church-led not-for-profit social scheme has been up and running since June 2019, and it had been going from strength to strength until the pandemic’s restrictions forced it to close.
However, its army of volunteers were keen to get back into the kitchen at St Oswald’s Church Hall, and for an entire year they worked hard to create thousands of takeaway meals, building up to providing up to 120 meals per week for collection or delivery to the local area.
But last week the team, which recently won a Beacon of Hope Award, relished in welcoming back their first guests for a three-course meal, to help the volunteers get back into the swing of serving up sit-down meals after such a long time working behind closed doors.
The plan is to start offering Ossie’s Kitchen’s usual community cafe service from Tuesday, September 28, with takeaways continuing in the mean time, and guests will be invited twice a month from then onwards.
Ossie’s Kitchen will be open on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, initially working under Covid restrictions to ensure the safety of its diners.
Seats will be limited to 30 per service and by invitation only to begin with, working towards a reservation system as restrictions ease.
Ossie’s Kitchen’s volunteers use food from the charity Fairshare, which aims to cut food waste and fight hunger.
The team of chefs then work for most of the day to prepare cooked two-course meals using the ingredients they have been given, which are served by a separate “front-of-house” team.
The meals served are free of charge, but Ossie’s Kitchen welcomes donations from diners, with suggested amounts being £3 for adults and £1 per child.
At its peak, before the coronavirus pandemic broke out, around 60 guests were attending the meals every fortnight.
During the outbreak, the 45-strong team prepared, cooked and delivered around 4,000 meals.
To find out more call 07437 377345.