Time Keeping
One of the things we have struggled with in the past is getting everything setup in time for opening the kitchen at 2pm. Often the Reflection Table, the last item to be set up, is not ready by 2pm. So we open without it being fully set up as we have a strict policy that we try and open on time, it’s about respect for our guests, some of whom have travelled distances on foot to reach us for 2pm.
This week for the first time we managed to set up nearly 20 minutes early! Lots of factors including the changing time for Zuhr prayers helped.
But we also have to be strict about not opening early, it sets a bad precedent for our guests. Today when we arrived 45 minutes before opening time, there were already several guests waiting for the kitchen to open. If guests see us opening early then naturally they will start come even earlier, worried they might miss out on food. Rest assured that having increased the quantity of hot meals for a second time now, today we had hot meals available right up to 3pm when those needing more than one portion were given the remaining portions before we closed.
Apologies to our guests waiting patiently in the queue, but we hope you understand our reasoning for being strict about opening at 2pm, not a minute before, not a minute after.
Homeless visitors rising
We are seeing more homeless people come to our kitchen, some of them rough sleepers including women.
Rough sleeping is a dangerous and isolating experience. People sleeping rough are more likely to be victims of crime and almost 17 times more likely to have been victims of violence (in the past year compared to the general public). One in five rough sleepers is a woman. Women are particularly vulnerable, nearly 1 in 4 have been sexually assaulted whilst rough sleeping. In 2018, the average age of a rough sleeper at death was just 44 years for men and 42 years for women.
Our emergency box of food items that can be prepared without access to a kitchen, has become indispensable to us in providing these guests with a choice of suitable foods for their requirements.
If you don’t have access to a kitchen please let one of the volunteers know so we can offer you alternatives which are not available on the main tables.
With winter coming, we will look at perhaps creating a box especially for rough sleepers with non food items like gloves, socks, etc. Any suggestion as to what we should include would be most welcome.
Unfortunate Incident
We had a very unfortunate incident at our kitchen today. Two guests nearly got into a fight. It was over some personal issue between them (they apparently knew each other). It was not related to our food stall, but the flare up happened at our stall and it didn’t help when one of them asked one of our volunteers for a knife (NB: we don’t keep knives at the kitchen). The other one had wrapped his fist with a bicycle security chain as a weapon. Fortunately things cooled down quickly with one guest leaving the scene rapidly whilst the other settled for a cup of tea.
Such incidents are not fair on our volunteers or the other guests, and put us in a very difficult position. The natural response to such threatening behaviour, one might think, would be to call the police for assistance. Our food stall is next to what was Norbury Police Station before the cuts resulted in it being closed down and the building being sold off to developers. But in the reality of today’s Britain, calling the police is the absolute very last resort, especially when one of the two protagonists is black.
A black person is 7 times more likely to die than a white person when restrained by police, and yet no officer has ever been found to have acted in a racist or discriminatory way following the death of a black person after contact with the police – so they are killed with impunity.
And yet we have a strong duty of care to ensure a safe environment for both our volunteers and guests. We wont tolerate such behaviour at our kitchen, please show respect towards our volunteers in the same way they show respect and love towards our guests. Please don’t put us in an impossible situation.
Food for your mind
The Reflection Table now has a new 6ft signage “Food For Your Mind” to complement our ‘food for the body’ food stall. This has helped garner a lot more interest from the public. Many people came and looked at the display picking up frames to read peoples personal accounts of how austerity policies have impacted them, and took photos of it and the letter to our local MP displayed on the sandwich board next to it, which urges him not to support the two child policy which has pushed over a million children into poverty.
Other Interesting Posts:
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 40
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 39
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 38
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 13
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 12
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 11
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 9
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 7
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 6
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 5
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 3
Resistance Kitchen Update – Week 2