Young people from Kingsmead Estate are helping to run a community food shop that is now providing weekly food supplies to 200 households across Hackney.
Through her grassroots youth organisation RISE 365, Joyclen Buffong began a hot meals programme in March last year and later set up the Kingsmead Estate community food shop alongside Kiran Chahal of their partner organisation Made Up Kitchen.
On their Saturdays, 25 teenagers volunteer to provide households with a whole week’s worth of food for only £8 – in 2020 they delivered 30,000 hot meals and 10,000 shopping bags.
Volunteer Marvin Birch, who quickly progressed within the project to take on the role of supervisor, said: “As a team we are always smiling, laughing and playing music to keep us motivated – and we really appreciate the support we get, that also plays a part in keeping us going.”
Buffong has been working with young people in Hackney for over 18 years. She was running two youth clubs, one of which is within the Kingsmead Estate, when the pandemic hit and their services were largely shut down.
I am very grateful for the opportunities that have enabled us to help people, and I will continue to remain positive and do my best to support those that need the help and support
She said: “My approach with young people is very holistic in terms of how I support them. So I had to look at how I could still engage and support young people within the COVID restrictions – because I was really concerned about their mental well-being with regards to isolation, having no access to education in terms of physically going to school, and not being allowed out due to lockdown.”
The aim of the project was to support the young people and the community, “but also to show the young people supporting their community,” said Buffong. The Kingsmead Estate has often been portrayed negatively for its associations with crime and youth violence – Buffong wants to challenge this perception for its young people. She said: “We’ve had young people that would otherwise be mixed up in other activities, but they’re no longer interested in that kind of stuff because they’ve been doing this for a year now, and they’ve been taught and shown a different way of doing things.”
Birch said: “Being able to help my community and knowing families had access to the community shop every Saturday made me feel proud and fortunate – and to be honest it has been a positive distraction from the difficulties of the pandemic and lockdown. I am very grateful for the opportunities that have enabled us to help people, and I will continue to remain positive and do my best to support those that need the help and support.”
It’s been amazing watching the young people flourish and really come into their power through supporting people, and also getting that enjoyment out of it – it has been a really beautiful thing to watch
The community food shop’s packages are very different to what Buffong described as the “absolutely ridiculous” food parcels that were issued by the government during the pandemic: “It’s not just beans or tinned meat. It’s very fresh produce. We’re very conscious about nourishing people’s bodies with the right food because we need strong immune systems in this time that we’re going through!” Furthermore, they are concerned with making sure their food is culturally appropriate: “We look at the community we’re serving and make sure that the ingredients we buy represents the community that we’re serving.”
However, Buffong has been using her own money to help the young people with requirements such as lunch, and RISE 365’s funding is due to run out in April. As Hackney Council is unable to provide money, they launched a fundraising page in January and quickly surpassed their initial target of £10,000. The new goal is to reach £50,000, which would enable the shop to continue its work for another six months. Buffong is also keen to use the money to set up an “intergenerational” street gym, which would support the mental health of both young and old through physical activity.
Buffong said: “It’s been amazing watching the young people flourish and really come into their power through supporting people, and also getting that enjoyment out of it – it has been a really beautiful thing to watch. As much as COVID has been quite a devastating thing for a lot of people, we have had a lot of beautiful things that have been birthed out of this period.”
