National non-profit initiative seeking more support from Sheffield restaurants

Tamper Coffee & Depot Bakery are the first franchise in Sheffield to support the introduction of the initiative through Kelham Island Food Tours to get more venues on-board and drive donations from locals.

So far Open Kitchens has raised over £15,000 nationally and they have pledged that vulnerable people and key-workers will be given free restaurant meals throughout the duration of the coronavirus crisis.

Any donations made are a necessity to cover the essential running costs for each Open Kitchen with every £1.85 donated being enough to provide a single, restaurant-quality meal.

The initiative has already received high levels of interest from restaurant owners across the UK wanting to do their bit. George Ktori who runs popular Greek restaurant Yamas in Nottingham city centre was thrilled to learn of the initiative.

Mr Ktori, said: “When Open Kitchens came to me, I was immediately on board. It’s important to help in these times and feed those who need it most. We’ve got the equipment and the talented chefs, to volunteer their time and cook fresh meals for those who don’t have access to them.

“We just hope that we’ll be able to drum up enough support in the way of donations and volunteers, to continue to make this fantastic idea a reality.”

Founder of online restaurant guide, Go dine, Adam Roberts, said: “We knew via the front line and from the knock-on effect on our business just how severe the impact of coronavirus was going to be within days of social distancing measures.

“To get the idea off the ground as quickly as possible, we got the word out to as many organisations as we could think of in order to pool resources and the response from all angles so far has been phenomenal.”

You can donate to Open Kitchens at https://justgiving.com/crowdfunding/openkitchensuk

Each restaurant will have their own Just Giving page created too, which can all be viewed via the map on https://openkitchens.co.uk/