Worthing restaurant cooking dozens of meals a day for homeless community

Jason Earl, owner of Cock’s Kitchen in Brighton Road, has been cooking up to 50 meals a night since October, using food donated to Worthing Soup Kitchen.

“It’s been a tough year for us all,” he said.

“It’s made all of us so grateful for what we have and empowered so many to help out in their local community – whether that’s grocery shopping for next door or putting together food parcels for families in need and free school meals.”

In an example of local groups working together, Jason was put in contact with Shout Outreach and Worthing Soup Kitchen by Melanie Peters, who runs Worthing-based firm Rocket Social Media.

With the soup kitchen lacking the capacity to prepare all of the donated food it receives, Jason’s kitchen – which sadly sits dormant due to lockdown – was deemed the perfect solution.

When Jason has been unable to cook, other restaurants such as Calcutta 16 in Brighton Road have picked up the slack.

Jason has also set up a fruit and vegetable stall in front of Cock’s Kitchen, for people to help themselves in return for a voluntary donation.

That money is spent on containers for food to be served in, as Covid restrictions prohibit them from being reused.

The meals are served every day at St Clare’s Community Hub in Marine Parade, a building used by homeless charity Turning Tides, between 6pm and 7pm.

Jason has set up a Just Giving page for anybody wishing to donate to the project, which can be found here

Melanie Peters has also set up Facebook and Instagram pages and is in the process of setting up a website to bring more local businesses together and provide a central place for donations and support.

For more information on Worthing Soup Kitchen, visit: here