Stoves reveals first community kitchen winners

British cooking appliance brand Stoves has revealed the first beneficiaries of its community projects fund.

The £20,000 community campaign aims to place the kitchen at the heart of local communities by helping projects transform their kitchen facilities. More than 230 nominations were received from the first influx of applications and almost 12,000 votes were cast through Facebook.

First place went to the Dorothy Goodman School in Hinkley, Leicestershire, which caters for pupils aged three to 19 with learning disabilities. The school received a prize of £5,000 worth of cooking appliances of its choice.

The school chose a full-size Stoves induction range cooker plus a number of built-in and freestanding cookers to improve the cookery room facilities it uses to provide a range of courses to pupils, including catering and hospitality.

In second place was St George’s Crypt in Leeds, which provides immediate care and support for homeless and vulnerable adults.

It won £3,000 worth of appliances to update its kitchen facilities in three locations – a hostel, supported accommodation and a community café, where it prepares more than 52,000 meals a year to support the local community.

The final winner was One Church Brighton, which works with people on the margins of society, focusing on homelessness, social isolation, poverty, unemployment, young people, social exclusion and drug addition. It received £2,000 worth of appliances.

Jonathan Casley, managing director of Stoves’s parent company Glen Dimplex Home Appliances, said: “Community projects that provide support, care, comfort and activities play a vital role in towns, cities and villages across the country and we are delighted to be able to help some of them in a small way.

“We were astounded by the volume of entries that the first phase of Community Kitchens generated and very touched by some of the work that they do. We look forward to receiving many more applications in the coming weeks and months and continuing to put something back into the community.”