A community kitchen best known for its nutritious affordable lunches now helps people connect via shared reading session.
The Nourish Hub – located around the corner from Westfield shopping centre in Shepherds Bush – is already a popular choice for its £3 three-course weekday meals.
It is financially supported by Hammersmith & Fulham Council as part of its fight to end food poverty and ensure no child in the borough goes hungry.
Now, the community food hub has widened its activities to include a free weekly reading hour for women.
Led by trained readers Sharon Spencer and Bud Murryweather, the sessions use poems and stories to widen the pleasure of reading and allow everyone to share their thoughts and feelings in a safe, supportive space.
Sophia Cameron is one of the regulars who enjoys the sessions. She explained:
It introduces me to poetry; I've always loved shared reading, and it gets me out of the house to meet other people."
Food for thought
The free sessions take place on Fridays from 11am to noon at the 1 St Ann's Road location. Residents are invited to join to experience shared reading – without any pressure to talk or to read aloud yourself.
Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 ('Shall I compare thee to a summer's day…') was picked for a recent session, but Sharon and Bud choose from a mix of poetry and prose. They then lead informal chats about the way different writing makes us feel.
"Most people find out about the shared reading by word-of-mouth, but they can just turn up and enjoy it," said Bud. "There's no charge, and afterwards they can stay for lunch."
Two special shared reading days are planned next month:
- On Friday 3 October a poetry piece will be chosen to mark National Poetry Day. And
- On Friday 17 October, Black History Month will be celebrated with a reading choice looking at the impact of black heritage and culture.
Simply pop along any Friday at 11am, or book a free slot in advance here.
Meals with a mission
Opened three years ago by the present Queen, and supported by H&F Council, Nourish Hub replaced a row of five derelict shops which had become a magnet for antisocial behaviour.
It is now a popular weekday lunch centre (noon-3pm) enjoyed by around 150 people a day, offering top vegetarian meals, cooked by volunteers, using food which would otherwise go to waste, donated by farms, shops, markets and even airlines.
Diners sit at communal tables, which helps combat loneliness and encourages neighbourliness.
But the hub also runs cookery courses for adults and children, and meals-on-wheels – delivered by cargo bikes.
"It's great to see so many children learning the basics of cooking, and budgeting," said events coordinator Helen Fielding. "Some have been coming along for three years running, and then continue making meals at home."
The hub also has a bring-and-take library (exchange a book you've finished for something new), a book club (10-11am, second Friday of the month) and board games. There are free Citizens Advice drop-in clinics every Tuesday, noon-3pm, and visits from Dr Bike, servicing and repairing bicycles.
