About Bath Community Kitchen
Our cooks, food educators and volunteers are passionate about bringing people together through good food.
We create warm and welcoming spaces where there is a place for everyone to come together, share a meal packed with goodness and gain skills and experiences that extend beyond the kitchen.
As a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC), we’re supported through donations, local and national grants and private event catering that directly supports our programmes.
Our Story
The idea for Bath Community Kitchen was sparked when Rob (our founder) was working as a chef for the educational charity Jamie’s Farm. He visited community kitchens in other parts of the UK and also spent time volunteering at The Refugee Community Kitchen in Calais.
He was inspired by how cooking together and sitting down to share a meal, something many of us take for granted, can have such a hugely positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing, especially when they’re facing challenging times or feeling isolated.
BCK first popped-up at the Forest of Imagination at the Holburne Museum in 2023 and has gone from strength-to-strength ever since.
BCK has welcomed hundreds of people to weekly community meals in Twerton and Radstock as well as to hands-on cookery workshops, we’ve plated thousands of dishes and rescued many tonnes of surplus food.
Support for Bath Community Kitchen’s mission has grown in Bath and the team works with some of the city’s top growers, producers and restaurants. Through Platter, by Bath Community Kitchen, the team caters events in venues, big and small, approaching every event, meal and workshop with the same passion, imagination and care.
Our mission
Nourish
To Increase access to healthy food for everyone, shared together at one table.
Connect
To create opportunities for the community to come together and connect over good food.
Thrive
To share kitchen skills and create opportunities to learn and work. Supporting and enabling people to thrive in life and the workplace.
Sustain
To turn surplus into sustenance through partnerships with local food suppliers and ethical producers, reducing food waste in our community.
Our values
Welcoming
There’s always a warm welcome. We’ll meet you where you are, with kindness and respect, ready to sit together and share a meal.
Joyful
We have fun cooking together with good vibes and good tunes in the kitchen. We encourage everyone to find joy in food and an appetite for cooking.
Nourishing
Great food that’s filling and fulfilling is at the heart of BCK. Cooked with imagination and generously shared. We nourish trust with every meal, building connection beyond the kitchen.
Collaborative
We support one another and work with the local community, our volunteers, supporters, local organisations and suppliers to fuel lasting change together.
Respectful
Everyone is included and treated with respect. Our food is plated with real pride, providing a sense of dignity through our meals.
Our impact
Since we started in 2023 we have:
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Served over 7,000 meals at our community meals events
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Welcomed over 4,000 people to one of our workshops
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Served over 6,000 people at an event we have catered
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Diverted over six tonnes of surplus food diverted from waste
Our team
Rob Lewis - Founder
Rob is the brains and heart behind Bath Community Kitchen. Before starting BCK Rob worked as a chef in Bristol and at Jamie’s Farm, an educational charity based in Bath, where he managed the food and horticultural provision for disadvantaged young people. Rob is deeply passionate about sharing his love of creating delicious, healthy food with people from all walks of life.
Marc Radley - Director
Marc ate with BCK at the Forest of Imagination in 2023 and signed up immediately! His background as a designer, children’s social worker and business owner is hugely valuable as BCK continues to grow its programmes and impact. Being part of the team has reignited Marc’s passion for helping communities work through challenges and change. He particularly likes following Rob’s obsession with great cooking and the presentation of vegetarian food, as well as the chance to sample the results!
Helen Lawrence - Director
Helen helped launch BCK bringing a huge amount of experience from owning and running the renowned Demuth's Cookery School in Bath, where for 10 years she taught people from all over the world how to cook delicious, creative plant-based food. She now runs a cookery school in France (Melusine) and her involvement in BCK keeps her connected to Bath and her interest in how what we eat is so closely related to our wellbeing.
Kelly Barfoot
Kelly first came to BCK as a volunteer when she moved back to Bath with her family. She is a wonderfully-talented plant chef and coach who helps people ease into a healthier relationship with food and gently explore wellness. Alongside her work at BCK, Kelly runs private events, interactive workshops and immersive retreats - she brings all her expertise and energy into the kitchen and is shaping new projects and an exciting next chapter for BCK.
Ellie Rymer
Ellie discovered BCK when she was looking for a new adventure that could combine her love of cooking with her background in PR and community engagement. A trained pastry chef, Ellie ran her own pop-up patisserie business before moving to Bath and back into the world of PR. She now supports cookery workshops and events for BCK as well as our comms and engagement, spreading the word about BCK.