South Shields-based charity gets £3,000 boost

Hospitality and Hope, based at the former Hampden Street Day Centre, in South Shields, has won thousands of pounds worth of cooking appliances.

The charity helps to combat homelessness with a soup kitchen, as well as food and clothing banks.

It also offers shower and laundry services in a recently converted building.

The work of the project has been recognised after it finished runner-up in a national competition run by the Community Kitchens campaign. Set up by cooking brand Stoves, it is aimed at placing the kitchen at the heart of communities, and helping projects to transform their kitchen facilities.

Hospitality and Hope’s £3,000 worth of appliances is likely to include a fridge freezer, dishwasher, microwave and hub, and will allow the charity to fit out its new community cafe.

Sir David Chapman, patron of Hospitality and Hope, said: “For 15 years, Hospitality and Hope has been at the heart of the community in South Tyneside, working at grassroots level to help homeless and deprived people in the borough.

“Once again our wonderful volunteers and the local community have rallied round to support us, this time with their votes, and we cannot thank them enough.

“The charity has raised in excess of £400,000 over the past 30 months to buy and convert the building which will house our new supported living facility and our community cafe, so every pound counts. Not surprisingly, the cost of extras can build up alarmingly, so winning £3,000 of appliances from Stoves is not only a huge boost to our fundraising but is also a wonderful fillip to everyone working in the charity who can see the positive results of all their efforts.”

Jonathan Casley, managing director of Stoves’ parent company Glen Dimplex Home Appliances, said: “We continue to be astounded by the volume of entries that Community Kitchens generates and are very touched by some of the work these organisations do.”