The All Churches Trust, Rotary Club of Stamford St Martin's, The Harry Skells Trust, Lincolnshire Community Foundation, The Laing Family Trust and South Kesteven Community Fund support kitchen renovation at Stamford Methodist Church in Barn Hill

A kitchen, which is the hub for providing meals to the community, has received a new look to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose.

The main kitchen at the Stamford Methodist Church in Barn Hill is used four days a week by Second Helpings as well as by a number of community groups and the church congregation.

Established in 2015 with the aim of 'feeding bellies not bins', Second Helpings prevents surplus food going to landfill by re-distributing it within the community.

Prior to the first national lockdown the food was served in the Saturday Café, however since March last year the kitchen has been used by cooks to make more than 10,860 takeaway meals, which are distributed in the Bunker and through partnerships with Support Our Stamford (SOS) and The Evergreen Care Trust.

To help cater for this volume of people, the kitchen was recently gutted and upgraded with stainless steel fixtures and fittings as well as new equipment including ovens, extractor unit, work tables, microwave and fridge.

Jo Kemp, head of the cooks, said: "Before this year we thought we’d given it a run for its money by taking over every Saturday- but a year of lockdowns later and we are now in there four days every week, cooking thousands of meals from surplus food to provide hot food for anyone who needs it or just wants to help us reduce waste.

"The new space is going to make every aspect of that job 100 per cent more enjoyable and is already enabling us to organise ourselves better, keep our cooking space clean and efficient, and most importantly enjoy our time in a gleaming and top end facility.

"We hope that shines through in our food as we continue to provide what we can for our whole community.”

The All Churches Trust, Rotary Club of Stamford St Martin's, The Harry Skells Trust, Lincolnshire Community Foundation, The Laing Family Trust and South Kesteven Community Fund all contributed to the project.

Yim Kong President of the Rotary Club of Stamford St Martins said: “The [rotary club] is delighted to support the kitchen upgrade project which will bring many and long-lasting benefits to some of our local communities most in need in these difficult times, whilst reducing the potential food waste from our supermarkets.”

In the past year, cooks have made more than 10,860 takeaway meals for people in the community.