Cotgrave Kitchen - Jilly Matthers & Phil Drabble

23rd February 2023 Cotgrave Community Kitchen Jilly Mathers and Phil Drabble

Before Jilly presented Gerry updated members on the Memory Café event this afternoon with 48 guests and 14 Rotarians, highest to date. Jilly began by explaining that they had been in operation for about 4 years and were a food distribution service, rather than a food Bank, run with the help of 24 volunteers.. They pick up from 32 Supermarket’s surplus food, either early morning or last thing in the evening.  They run a ‘mini market’ twice a week, set up as a Green Grocers shop environment and served subsidised meals during lockdown on Tuesdays (85 to 100) and Thursdays (150), now based at The Manvers Pub also with the distribution of food bags. They just cook Tuesdays now, serving 25 to 30 Metropolitan Housing Residents fro The Thurlbeck Community Centre.

As well as saving food wastage into landfill, helping with food poverty prevention, there is a major impact on Social isolation. There work has been recognised and they showed us a video that was presented on Central News as well as an award for “ Community Group of the Year” from Rushcliffe B C. Jilly is also an ‘Honorary Member’ of Rushcliffe Rotary Club, who like ourselves have been helping and supporting CCK and they awarded her one of the highest awards in the Rotary movement, a “Paul Harris Fellow”.

Partnership working is one of their strategies and they showed many examples of their different initiatives: Cotgrave C of E school, Cotgrave Methodist Church, Ashlea Special school, Rosie May(and their famous Tuk Tuk), the Community Garden group. They provide Easter eggs, Christmas hampers, Pizza kits, half term “Kids eat free” at The Manvers, Friday coffee mornings.

There was a further moving video from Krista, a mother who had benefitted from their “affordable” food services in these times of the cost of living crisis, but the other very important aspect was the friendships and acquaintances she had made to the extent that she has become one of the volunteers herself.

Their future aspirations include possible Charity status, improved accommodation, increased number of customers and new initiatives.  There is a Bowls pavilion adjacent to the Miners Welfare and the Community Garden, that would meet their needs perfectly, but are hitting a ‘brick wall’ with CISWO and the Welfare Trustees, whilst the Pavilion continues to deteriorate.

Alan F gave a heart-warming Vote of Thanks, suggesting rather tongue in cheek, that CCC might have been an improved Branding (Cotgrave Community Cuisine). We are very impressed by the staggering account of their activities and will continue to support them in any way we can, but the 3 ‘D’s will see them progress:

Determination, Dedication and Drive and the members showed their appreciation in the normal way         AR