Moor Imagination Collective, which is transforming the Old Buckfastleigh Methodist Church building into a welcoming and inclusive community hub, has received a real boost from the Naturesave Trust in its quest to create a Community Kitchen at its heart.
The £2,500 grant has allowed Moor Imagination Collective to engage the services of Maresa Bossano, founder of Love Food CIC which runs a community food hub in Exeter. Maresa has supported MIC to carry out further community consultation, design the kitchen, draw up proposals for community food programmes, and write a comprehensive business plan. She has also applied to a range of different funders for grants to finance the capital work for the project, kit the kitchen out with all the necessary equipment, and subsidise accessible workshops for the whole community.
Sophie Lovett, co-founder of MIC, said: “We are extremely grateful to the Naturesave Trust for enabling us to work with Maresa Bossano, benefiting from her considerable experience and expertise. This project is driven by the power of food to build community, and the community kitchen will in many ways be the heart of the Moor Imagination Centre. This grant has made that goal a whole lot more possible.”
When it’s completed, the community kitchen will have six stations for food prep and cooking, kitted out for a wide range of uses. It will provide a base for a wide range of community food initiatives, including long table meals, workshops and classes, and collaborations with local food producers.
For more information, email Sophie Lovett at moorimaginationcollective@gmail.com.
Moor Imagination Collective is a creative community space and heritage archive in Buckfastleigh, with café, performance and workshops spaces and local events. You can find out more about their work here.
