IN THE PAST

Calais Jungle

In November 2015, RCK fundraised for and sourced the equipment needed to create a working kitchen in the Auberge des Migrants warehouse near the Calais 'Jungle'. Over the following year we served over 1500 hot, nutritious meals a day, 7 days a week to camp residents. We continued serving throughout the many changing circumstances of the camp from Ramadan's late hours to the first eviction to the camp's final demolition in October 2016.

Edinburgh

Refugee Community Kitchen Edinburgh was founded in 2016 by us — Morven Lindsay, alongside Jo, Javi and Raz — after meeting while volunteering in Calais. After witnessing first-hand the conditions faced by refugees there, we returned to Edinburgh determined to support Refugee Community Kitchen in Calais and to act in solidarity from our home city.

We began as a small fundraising group, organising community events with music, crafts, games and shared food. Mat Clements brought musicians together to play at our events at the Pavilion Café and went on to organise a landmark fundraising gig at the Belle Angele, featuring Shooglenifty and other artists. Cat Bruce designed all of our posters, helping to give the project a strong and recognisable visual identity, while Eiko organised children’s activities that made our events welcoming for families.

Alongside these events, we turned surplus food that would otherwise have gone to landfill into homemade jams, chutneys and soups to sell, raising funds while tackling food waste. Huge amounts of time, care and practical support were donated by many volunteers, several of whom later went on to volunteer directly in Calais as well.

When the pandemic unfolded and Morven lost her income as a freelance chef, our focus shifted and our work expanded rapidly. As many food redistribution schemes closed during lockdown, we stepped in to help fill the gap. Working with a growing team of volunteers, we collected unsold food from local supermarkets across Edinburgh and redistributed it quickly and safely to those most in need.

By 2021, Refugee Community Kitchen Edinburgh was operating with around 30 volunteers and supporting homeless shelters, hotels, community organisations, free shops and meal services across the city. We ran free food outlets at locations including Leith Walk and Middle Meadow Walk, where demand remained consistently high, and regularly supplied partner organisations such as Empty Kitchens: Full Hearts and The Shrub Co-op.

Any surplus funds we raised in Edinburgh were passed directly to Refugee Community Kitchen in Calais, ensuring that our work in Scotland continued to support refugees in northern France. What began as a small act of solidarity grew into a vital community food network — powered by rescued food, shared skills and the generosity of a wide community working together.

 Dunkirk

After serving hot food in the Dunkirk makeshift camp, in 2016 we were integral part of set up of the La Linear Camp in Gande Synthe, where we funded and built self-service shops, a Women's Centre and 4 large community kitchens. Each with wood-fired stoves, sinks, tables and seating areas so that residents could prepare meals for themselves, their families and friends.

These kitchen were a great source of support for thousands of people who came through the camp till it the whole camp was destroyed and not replaced by a catastrophic fire in April 2017.