A community cafe which fed thousands during the Covid pandemic is calling on Londoners to help as it struggles to stay open. Allotments in Friern Barnet urgently need to raise £5,000 after struggling to cope with rising costs and a significant drop in footfall in recent months.
Primarily a charity, the colorful venue reinvests its profits into providing free hot meals to vulnerable people across Barnet and Haringey. They also teach young people how to cook Caribbean food, garden and work in a professional kitchen in hopes of providing them with future employment.
Owner Nigeal Andall now worries that north London could lose something much bigger than his cooking. He said: “Boarding farms provide diversity, inclusion and social mobility. It’s one of the only places in Friern Barnet that bridges the gap between every community. We have every race, every faith visit – it’s a place where they can have a voice.
“You can feel the living DNA, the love that comes with the space we’ve created. Regardless of background, everyone has space to exist here.”
Nigel set up Allotments alongside social action group, North London Community Consortium, during lockdown 2020. Inspired by the efforts seen during the Grenfell disaster, the ex-policeman soon found himself in charge of 175 volunteers.
At most, they distributed over 20,000 dinners a month and were hailed as a “lifeline” for many. This initiative continues but the cafe now also focuses on engagement through open mic nights, poetry readings, fashion shows, live music and mental health.
Nigeal said he would be devastated if his group’s permanent legacy was closed after just four years. He said: “I am so sad because I know what we have and the potential of what we have been historically.
“Many of the people in this area are isolated and we know the value, the benefit that we bring to them. My proudest moment has been bringing everyone together in a diverse and safe place. I don’t want that to end.”
Nigeal believes more needs to be done to support small businesses, especially those that supply their local area. He also says he has not been offered any help from Barnet Council or the politicians who showed their face during the pandemic.
He said: “I feel used in the sense that we didn’t even get a confirmation letter. I feel like if we were a different ethnic group we would have had more recognition and support. We had politicians come to our food bank and take pictures and promising to come back and support us We have never seen them again since.
“I think there is a lot more to be done in terms of how the council supports businesses that had a history of supporting the community during Covid. They should be helping them achieve stability through grants or funding rather than forcing them to use their own income streams for to achieve what the council should be.”
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Allotments has been hit hard. In 2021, staff discovered the cafe had been vandalized and ransacked, with a derogatory message plastered across its front. Nor is it the first independent business in London to face closure this year. Brixton’s Cafe Van Gogh closed its doors in July after Brexit saw costs spiral. ORA, a brewery in Tottenham, also served its last pint last month after being unable to meet the cost of living.
If you would like to donate to Allotment’s fundraising, you can do so here.
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