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Reading Red Kitchen

COLLECTIVE
community

We are a solidarity focused project who use food to bring people together and help people in food poverty. We are not a charity. We believe in working with people, without bureaucracy or hierarchy.

Contribute


Become a financial contributor.

Financial Contributions

Recurring contribution
Local Friend

You're giving us enough to buy wet wipes for mums each month.

Starts at
£10 GBP / month

Latest activity by


+ 40
Recurring contribution
Local Hero

Your support helps us buy toiletries and groceries for people who need it most.

Starts at
£20 GBP / month

Latest activity by


+ 20
Recurring contribution
Local Legend

Your support means essentials for people who have so little including groceries, toiletries, nappies, wet wipes and baby milk. We are a solidarity ... Read more

£50 GBP / month

Latest activity by


+ 3
Custom contribution
Donation
Make a custom one-time or recurring contribution.

Latest activity by


+ 258

Top financial contributors

1
Huw Birch

£2,550 GBP since Nov 2020

2
Darron Anley

£2,066 GBP since May 2021

3
Annie

£1,519.85 GBP since Mar 2021

4
Gemma Robaczynski

£1,300 GBP since Apr 2021

5
Nick G

£1,180 GBP since Nov 2020

6
Incognito

£1,150 GBP since Nov 2020

7
incognito

£980 GBP since Nov 2020

8
Becca Tizzard

£900 GBP since Mar 2021

9
Chris Rimmer

£880 GBP since May 2021

10
Incognito

£800 GBP since Feb 2021

11
IK

£700 GBP since Jan 2021

12
Jules Morrison

£700 GBP since Feb 2021

13
Helen Roche

£647.5 GBP since Sep 2021

14
Oxford branch

£600 GBP since Jun 2021

15
Steve Chapman

£580 GBP since Jun 2022

16
incognito

£565 GBP since Nov 2020

17
Katie

£560 GBP since Nov 2020

18
Kate Thomas

£540 GBP since Feb 2021

19
Martyna Marcinkowska

£540 GBP since Dec 2022

20
Rachel Kershaw

£530 GBP since Nov 2020

Connect


Let’s get the ball rolling!

News from Reading Red Kitchen

Updates on our activities and progress.

Call to action: our food bank is at the risk of closing!

Dear Red Kitchen supporters, We are hoping you had a restful long weekend and a cheerful time to all those celebrating. Unfortunately, we are facing a very difficult time. Our bi-weekly food bank for asylum-seeking refugees...
Read more
Published on April 1, 2024 by Martyna Marcinkowska

Changes & challenges

Dear friends of the Reading Red Kitchen, It’s been a little while since our last update and things have changed so we wanted to share the latest developments and challenges of our work. Thank you so much for your continued support – our wor...
Read more
Published on December 1, 2023 by Martyna Marcinkowska

Spring updates from the Red Kitchen

Dear friends of the Reading Red Kitchen, We know it's been a little while since you've heard from us (yet again - so sorry!) so we wanted to give you an update on what we've been up to over the past few months. We've been working hard every...
Read more
Published on May 17, 2023 by Deven Parker

Budget


Transparent and open finances.

-£84.74 GBP
Pending
Reimbursement #231024
+£10.00GBP
Completed
Contribution #751986
+£5.00GBP
Completed
Contribution #811916
£
Today’s balance

£1,912.93 GBP

Total raised

£40,550.49 GBP

Total disbursed

£38,637.56 GBP

Estimated annual budget

£8,213.27 GBP

About


We are a solidarity focused project who use food to bring people together and help people in food poverty.

We are not a charity. We believe in working with people, without bureaucracy or hierarchy. We receive no formal funding. We just want to work directly with the community to support our migrant friends, without the red tape (but all of the safeguarding).

We are focused on supporting asylum seekers in Reading. Usually, Reading shamefully accepts very few asylum seekers. However, during lockdown, many migrants who've been denied asylum or are awaiting a decision are stuck in limbo, with their tiny asylum allowance confiscated. This is because the accommodation they're stuck in is providing 'care' via a private security firm. So what does that care look like, that they should have no money to buy pants or baby food or toothpaste? Two plain pasta meals and tiny dry shampoo sachets. We supported these vulnerable people with over 10,000 meals, clothes, phones, referrals and phone credit. for the year they were in Reading. Now, that our friends have been moved on, we've opened our doors and become a social foodbank for asylum seeking migrants.

That's where we come in. As a group of mates we knew we had to do something while the council, govt and others don't, and so we are. We work with amazing members of the community, regular people, who donate food, spare money and serve our friends . We then sort them, serve them, and offer as much emotional support as we can while our friends, often fleeing brutal conditions, go through the dehumanizing process of claiming asylum in the UK.

Come and get involved, whether it's serving food (dm us on
Facebook or Instagram), sparing some money or donating some groceries. Solidarity, not charity.

Our team