The Community Kitchens program involves groups of people with common backgrounds, interests or dietary requirements meeting together to cook and socialise and is generously funded by the Howard Glover Perpetual Charitable Trust through United Way Geelong.

The program encourages all members to participate in the cooking process, which involves budgeting, menu planning, shopping and cooking.

Utilising existing community resources Community Kitchens will operate in Neighbourhood Houses, Community Centres, church halls, schools, sporting clubs and anywhere else there may be suitable kitchens, further enhancing the community aspect.

The dynamic model involves small groups of local residents who meet regularly to pool their food funds and recipe ideas to plan and undertake shared ingredient buying, meal preparation and dining.

Participants also take food home to be consumed later.  This shared approach to labour and costs saves both time and money, allowing members to experience delicious food and enjoyable social interaction while gaining valuable knowledge and preparation skills required to cook fresh, nutritious meals.

The project also provides important contact for people within our community who are experiencing significant isolation for a number of different reasons. Members can vary from young mothers, those living alone, the elderly, homeless youth, and people from different cultural backgrounds, those with disabilities, illnesses or specific dietary needs.

Throughout the year there will be a continuous roll out of Community Kitchens across the region.

In March our first Kitchen, aimed at ‘Busy Mums’, came into operation at Vines Road Community Centre and in the coming weeks a number of Kitchens will commence operation including:

• A ‘Young Persons’ Kitchen in partnership with Clockwork Young Persons Health Centre
• A ‘Public Tenant’s’ Kitchen in partnership with the Office of Housing
• A ‘Young Parents’ Kitchen operating at the Corio Bay Senior College Hub
• A ‘Men's Kitchen’ at SpringDale Community Centre in association with Bellarine Community Health

We are also in the commencement phase of setup for a number of other kitchens throughout the Region namely:

• A ‘Healthy Hearts’ Kitchen in partnership with Barwon Health
• A ‘ Queenscliff Inclusive Communities’ Kitchen in partnership with the Borough of Queenslciffe and Bellarine Community Health.

If you are interested in volunteering as a Community Kitchen facilitator or want to find out more about the program contact

Bethany Community Kitchens Coordinator on 5278 8122.