A police community support officer has helped a community centre to secure £500 in funding to help them create a kitchen for residents to enjoy.
Debbie Kimpton worked with the Old Boat Corner Community Centre in Carden Hill, Brighton to gain funding from the Police Property Act Fund to help cover the cost of equipment for a community kitchen.
The fund is made up of money from the sale of found property and property confiscated by order of the court.
Debbie said: “I was delighted to help the centre with funding towards its new kitchen. The centre is a great hub for the community of Hollingbury and Patham, and supports many of the older and vulnerable residents in the area.
“We have recently seen a fair bit of anti-social behaviour in the park adjoining the community centre. As well as increasing our engagement and patrols in the area, we hope by raising awareness of the centre’s work, and the new activities for people to join, we will see a reduction in this behaviour.”
During the pandemic, the centre operated as a food bank, giving away up to 60 food parcels per week.
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Having also gained funding to get a commercial kitchen at the centre, they should be able to provide meals for older people, particularly hot meals in the winter, as well as run lessons in cooking for the community.
Reyna Kothari, the centre’s manager, said: “With this funding, we are over the moon and overwhelmed that we are able to put on stuff for our community.”
For the centre, the next stage is to fundraise and get backing to have a paid chef on the team that can organise volunteers to make community meals for the elderly and those on food banks.
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“We’re nearly there, we’re nearly at the end of being able to start doing stuff that will really benefit our community and to put stuff on that people can go to and feel a bit safer,” Reyna said.
“With a community kitchen, food brings people together, where they can meet new people. I think those community links have really broken down, and if those links go back up, people might feel less isolated and have somewhere to turn to.”
Reyna also said that the community centre can offer an easy day out for schools in the community which are unable to afford trips away, with pupils enjoying the community garden and the library at the centre.
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The centre is open to suggestions about what activities the community would like to see at the centre, with Reyna calling for residents to submit any ideas they have.
People who want to help Reyna and the Old Boat Corner Community Centre in their drive to fund their community kitchen can donate at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/old-boat.
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