Nourish is 1 year old

Our Nourish service providing hot evening meals for rough sleepers in Norwich is marking its first anniversary 

Nourish launched in April 2021 and is run by us in partnership with King’s Community Church. It operates from a safe indoor venue in Norwich city centre for six days a week. People in temporary accommodation and those without cooking facilities are also eligible.  

Andrea Auburn, one of our managers, said “In the year that Nourish has been operating we have served over 3,500 hot meals. The team has also connected people to other support services and helped them move into housing.”  

"People like us appreciate being treated with dignity..."

Roger (pictured below) is one of the people who uses Nourish "It's great having a service like this, where you can sit down and eat some proper food with a knife and fork, at a table. People like us appreciate being treated with dignity, to feel like a human being." 

Volunteers make the difference

The service is run with a large pool of volunteers who have collectively given over 4,600 hours in the last year. All volunteers are trained in food hygiene, safeguarding, conflict management and First Aid. One of them is Gina (pictured below) who explains how she’s helped those attending and benefited herself “Volunteering at Nourish has given me so much, I've learnt new skills, met some really interesting people and have been able to help my fellow humans too. The nights I volunteer I go home tired but with a sense of wellbeing and knowing that although small, I made a difference.” 

Partnerships are at the heart of Nourish

King's Community Church are our partners to deliver this service. Ailsa Magee explained this “The initiative has enabled King’s to provide a coordinated approach to feeding and supporting those who find themselves homeless or in emergency accommodation”.  

We are one of eight organisations who combine to form Pathways Norwich. The group is funded by Norwich City Council and Nourish is just one of the projects Pathways delivers to prevent rough sleeping and support those who are street homeless.  

If you want to use Nourish or have any other queries, please contact Andrea by email andrea@thefeed.org.uk