Highlights of 2023

December 21, 2023
12:18 pm

2023 has been an incredible year for Nourish Hub. The staff, volunteers and community food hub users have enjoyed so much more than just delicious and nutritious meals (although many of these have been highlights in themselves). Not only have we celebrated our 1st Anniversary, but we have been guests at Buckingham Palace, conducted research with Imperial College, London, received several prestigious awards and engaged with more environment and food rescue organisations than ever before. Click the images below to have a look back over the last 12 months at Nourish Hub, Hammersmith!

Greener Living Day

Back in January, we partnered with North Kensington Community Energy to deliver their Greener Living Day which focused on the cost–of–living and building a resilient community. The day involved a range of activities including a children’s art competition, a raffle, a delicious meal prepared by our Head Chef, Oli and a range of interesting talks.

H&F Climate Alliance

Nourish Hub is a member of the H&F Climate Alliance which means we recognise the need to take rapid climate action to deliver net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Through this Alliance, we commit to learning more, developing a Climate Action Plan and sharing our progress.

Our Birthday!

Earlier in the year we proudly celebrated a year of supporting our community and fighting food waste. Since our official opening we’ve welcomed members of the local community over 46,000 times, dished out more than 39,000 hot meals and received support from 89 community volunteers.

Ap-PEEL-ing Art Surplus Supper

A new project in partnership with Karma Bank featured a foodie art competition for local residents. Residents of all ages joined us on the 9^th of August for a nourishing and delicious vegetarian meal, and to share in Karma Bank’s and Nourish Hub’s vision to reduce food waste through art.

Food of the Future Surplus Suppers

We’ve had two fabulous fun-filled evenings of exploration, discovery and sharing thoughts about the future of food. As we continued our partnership with Imperial College, London, local residents had the opportunity to chat with researchers and explore the Future Fridge.

Open House Festival

In September our doors were open as part of the Open House Festival! From a vacant post-office to a community space where learning about healthy eating and cooking food is used to connect diverse cultures, teach meaningful skills and bring people together.

Hub Quiz

To end the summer activities at the hub we organised a Family Hub Quiz and challenged ourselves and residents with lots of food-related questions and riddles put together by Grace, our Head of Education. Thank you to LMP Action for funding this amazing event.

UK 100 Best Food Awards

The UK Best 100 Taste Awards recognise innovators and tastemakers who prioritise sustainability, taste and innovation in their products and services. We were pleased to have been nominated by David, our very own volunteer, and what an honour to have been selected as one of the winners. Our chefs, Oli and Tripti happily accepted our prize!

RIBA Architectural Award

Noted for its eye-catching pallet and quirky details, the incredible space that houses the Nourish Hub won the coveted RIBA Architect Award, where the incredible community space and deliberate replication potential were noted as being ‘very inviting’ and ‘like being at home’. The atmospheric design complements all uses of the space, and it’s fantastic that this has been recognised with the RIBA award.

We’re a Dementia Friendly Community!

We are proud to be a part of Hammersmith and Fulham’s Dementia Friendly Community, a place where people are aware of and understand dementia so that people with dementia can continue living the life they want to in the community they choose to. We enjoyed celebrating Alzheimer’s UK prestigious award to the borough!

The Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham

In November we were delighted to welcome the Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham not once but twice! Mayor Patricia Quiggly first joined our Community Supper where she dined with residents and learned about quinoa and our luxury hot chocolates. The second time around she attended a cookery course and cooked up a delicious bean chili – a true natural!

Civic Trust Awards

Nourish Hub has been awarded Regional Finalist as part of the Civic Trust Award. This doesn’t mean that we’ll win, but we are thrilled to be finalists in this category. Watch this space for more information… we should know at the beginning of 2024.

And finally…

We would like send out a huge thank you to everyone that has been part of our incredible year, whether you have donated food, money or time to the Nourish Hub, have partnered with us on one of our many ongoing projects, you have hired our space and facilities for your events, or have attended one of our fantastic educational courses, suppers, fundraising or awareness raising event or joined our community to share in the food we rescue and meals we produce, we are all one community! Thank you for joining us on our ongoing journey and being part of our exciting adventure.

Here’s to a fantastic 2024!