Formerly homeless employees of a newly opened fine dining restaurant in Camden have claimed the project has changed their lives.
Home Kitchen opened last week in Primrose Hill with the aim of tackling homelessness by employing and training those who have experienced it.
Waiter Jeremy Coates found his very first job at Home Kitchen through a course run by the charity Beyond Food, aiming to help those in disadvantaged backgrounds gain skills in food and hospitality.
He said: “Before finding employment I had no hope, no opportunities and felt cut off from the world.
“This is the beginning of the journey. Home Kitchen is helping to build us up as individuals.
“The restaurant’s mission is providing one big nail in the coffin to the stigma of giving a job to the disadvantaged.
“There are a great number of people who did not grow up in a stable environment and that affects them throughout adult life.
“Those people who are trying should be given a chance to gain those skills, work and not be completely cut off. The stigma still needs to be smashed.”
According to research from Crisis in December 2021, 42% of all UK bosses would fire a member of staff if they became homeless.
More than 300,000 people, including 140,000 children, spent last Christmas homeless.
Beyond Food is one of many charity partners aiding homeless people and supported the Home Kitchen project, alongside £210,000 worth of investment from the Big Issue’s social initiative Big Issue Invest.
Multiple once homeless employees at Home Kitchen found their first job through the charity Beam, which crowdfunds new career opportunities for homeless men and women.
One of these is Niloofar, a refugee from Iran, who arrived in the UK two years ago, but had no permission to work for over one and a half years due to her asylum seeker status.
Once she gained the right to work, she discovered there was “no way” to find a job.
She added: “It is really hard to find the first house, the job – it is really hard to grab it.”
After being referred to Home Kitchen by Beam, Niloofar found the environment at the fine dining outlet incredibly welcoming.
She added: “On the first day that I arrived here they told me that it was going to be my second home, which is why it is called ‘Home Kitchen’.”
Overcome with emotion at how significantly Home Kitchen has transformed her life in the UK, Niloofar is conscious of the power the social initiative has to help others in her position.
She concluded: “All of our managers say that our journey is not finished yet. They just want to help other people as well.
“I hope to be a small part of that to help them reach their goal and help other homeless people.”
Home Kitchen’s staff are paid on full-time London living wage contracts and will be trained to attain a professional catering qualification.
Inspiration for the social initiative was found by two-time Michelin star winner Adam Simmonds, who is now the executive chef at Home Kitchen, worked during the Covid pandemic at the charity Soup Kitchen London.
The fine dining establishment’s assistant manager, Justine Georgiou, also joined the project through her work at Soup Kitchen London.
Georgiou said: “It is always a bit stressful when you open a new restaurant. It has been very fun at the same time.
“The reaction of the Primrose community to our opening has been incredible. Everybody is so supportive and so kind and so interested in the project.”
She puts this response down to the uniqueness of what Home Kitchen is trying to achieve.
She added: “Something like this has never happened before.
“We are a restaurant with a purpose. If we had more of these around, the world would be a better place.
“The system has given up on homeless people, it is our job to help them.”
The restaurant is trying to ease their new staff into the roles and are continuing to “nurture” them as they begin work for the first time.
Home Kitchen’s menu offers a tasting menu of six courses for £65, and al a carte menu of three courses for £45 on Sundays, which is £35 for the rest of the week.
Featured image: Vince.co.uk
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