Stoves re-opens Community Kitchens competition for nominations

Cooking appliance brand Stoves has re-opened its Community Kitchens community projects fund for applications.

Stoves launched the fund in 2015, and £20,000 is available to community organisations to transform their kitchen facilities. The competition asks people to nominate organisations that have a positive impact on their local communities. Earlier this year, the competition received more than 200 nominations from community projects around the country.

Nominations must be made via the Stoves website and should explain in no more than 300 words why the community initiative deserves to win. Once the nomination period has closed, a shortlist will be put to a public vote. The projects that receive the most votes will then be awarded bronze, silver and gold prize packages, worth between £2,000 and £5,000.

The deadline for nominations is 9am on Monday 3rd October.

Amongst the winners of the latest round was a Liverpool-based charity supporting low-income families by providing a free hot meals service for children during the holidays; a Blackburn-based women’s centre and a Hampshire-based homeless charity.

Mags Mercer, CEO of The Vine Centre, which won first prize, said:

“We were delighted to have won the competition as it meant we could finish the fit out of our training and catering kitchen.  Our kitchen is vital as we provide 3,500 meals a year to homeless people and run a Catering Training Programme for unemployed people. Our centre is accessed 8,000 times a year so having new equipment means a great deal.”

Jonathan Casley, managing director of Stoves parent company Glen Dimplex Home Appliances, added:

“We were amazed by the response earlier this year. We had entries from a really diverse range of organisations, all doing fantastic work for their communities. What this demonstrated to us is that food preparation really is at the heart of community projects and access to a kitchen can be a lifeline for vulnerable members of society.”

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