3 years ago Bridport Community Kitchen opened its doors for the first time.

Our team of dedicated volunteers have supported 100s of the most vulnerable people in our community. We provide a safe, warm, welcoming and friendly environment. We support the homeless community and vulnerably housed with hot meals and beverages, clothes washing facilities, winter survival kits, clothing and hot showers. We have served over 5000 meals since we opened.

We also support: Persons with mental health issues. Persons living in poverty. Families and single parents living in poverty. Ukrainian refugees. Persons with alcohol and substance addictions.

Last year we added additional opening hours and consultation spaces for medical and housing advice. We strengthened our links with the local town council, NHS medical and mental health advice services, local homeless housing charities, Bridport mental health team & R.E.A.C.H

We support 30-40 people across the 3 days that we open .This number is increasing during the winter months and as the cost of living crisis deepens. The voluntary team has expanded to meet the increase in demand. Our users have a wide range of needs and issues that require additional support, so we are very pleased to have the presence of a nurse practitioner (NHS Funded) who is allocated to Bridport on Wednesdays and their role is to support the physical and mental health needs of those who cant access the health system very easily. We also have representatives attending the kitchen from Julian House Housing trust team, who are based in Weymouth and support the (Bridport) homeless community.

We are entirely funded by donations and so we are fundraising for our routine operations to continue and to tackle the ongoing issue of homelessness in Bridport. In particular we are determined to establish emergency safe sleep shelter pods located in Bridport.