We now have a fabulous shiny new community kitchen for our existing groups – and to start up some exciting new ones!
https://www.facebook.com/hungryJNR8/videos/447197002738525/
https://www.facebook.com/hungryJNR8/videos/614239952395107/
https://www.facebook.com/hungryJNR8/videos/355136871857307/
How it all began…
The work has begun at JNR8…
Many thanks to Mick for organising the work from the ISG construction company who have been supporting our project.
The team have knocked down the redundant chimney above the kitchen so that the work can commence…wet rot caused a few problems – but moving forward we are working with local building teams to get on with the work!
Many thanks to the team from Hyde Demolition who removed the chimney
Crescent Roofing who have patched up the roof ready for the next stage
Timberwise – roofing experts who came along to check out the roof for any issues
Watch this space for updates!
https://www.facebook.com/hungryJNR8/
We are well on our way to realising our dream for our community kitchen!
We have now secured grants for a new energy efficient boiler from the Manchester City Council’s Neighbourhood Investment Fund…
and a new commercial cooker thanks to a grant from the Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund!
We have received a fantastic donation of ‘pre-loved’ stainless steel kitchen equipment and an offer to carry out some of our building work – from ISG – a dynamic construction company currently working in schools across Greater Manchester…
The Whiz project young people who are working towards their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award have recorded interviews with building users to find out their thoughts about the current facilities and the benefits of a new kitchen.
Listen to some of the interviews here:
Please Help!
We are struggling to feed and support our hungry community.
Our kitchen is a shambles and weve had to suspend lots of our vital cooking activities!
Food has always been a very important aspect of our work in terms of bringing people together, cook and eat: we have produced cookery guides and recipe books: our under 12 cookery class appeared on Ready Steady Cook!
We love Whalley Range and talked to residents about what they want – and this is what they said:
Cookery lessons, Meal budgeting advice, Catering courses, Cook & Taste sessions, Community Meals
Healthy meal ideas, Cheap nutritious meal plans, Heritage & ESOL food courses, Intergenerational cooking
Learning about vitamins & food sources, Healthy nutritious meals for one, Family cooking sessions,
With a fully accessible professional kitchen we know we could meet these priorities – and more!
Since 1998 we have been based at the JNR8 Youth & Community Centre – the leased community rooms of
Manley Park Church – providing a range of inclusive projects for our richly diverse community.
There are 2 main charitable organisations based here.
Whalley Range Community Forum (WRCF) sources funding and facilitates daytime activities for the community and a weekly social and cooking group for people experiencing mental ill health.
Whalley Range Youth Opportunities Association (WRYOA) runs an evening Youth Club and holiday play schemes.
The Church has made major improvements over the past years: a new hall floor, energy efficient boiler and new double glazed windows and doors. WRCF has sourced funding for furniture, laptops and storage for the many groups who provide activities/classes.
We have decided to all come together to fundraise for a new professional, accessible kitchen to improve health & wellbeing. We named our project: Generate our Kitchen – as our building – JNR8 – is pronounced Generate!
With one part-time member of staff and a voluntary committee for WRCF and WRYOA – along with fantastic teams of volunteers and sessional youth workers – we are the only local centre serving the community with activities for all ages and cultures, providing crisis support and celebrating the area by bringing people together to improve mental and physical health and wellbeing and raising aspirations.
Based on consultations at our events we aim to:
Help reduce isolation by providing social groups,
Encourage people to engage with others: Coffee mornings, Afternoon Tea, Support groups
Improve employability and confidence/self-esteem building
Provide ESOL support with English speaking and writing
Provide basic and improvers computer skills with internet access
Run Work clubs and Computer classes
Provide Youth provision and Play schemes including Duke of Edinburgh Award, Girls Night
Promote Healthy eating Health & Wellbeing and Fitness classes
Reduce the stigma around mental ill health
Provide crisis support including Hate Crime reporting centre and Foodbank voucher distribution
Thai Boxing
Tai Chi
Women Health
Age-friendly
Child Friendly
Hate Crime Awareness and International Women Day events
Debates
Book and film launches
Babies & toddlers groups
Meetings
Advice sessions
Something for the youngest to the oldest, the Celebrate festival at our community centre – along with a wide range of other activities for everyone of all ages in our richly diverse community!
We love living in Whalley Range and as a Community Forum we have talked to residents about what they want!
- Cookery lessons
- Meal budgeting advice
- Catering courses
- Cook & Taste sessions
- Community Meals
- Healthy meal ideas
- Cheap nutritious meal plans
- Heritage food courses
- Intergenerational cooking
- Learning about vitamins & food sources
- Healthy nutritious meals for one
- Family cooking sessions
- A fully accessible professional kitchen
- Practical ESOL cookery sessions
- Production of a tried & tested cook book
And much more!
The JNR8 Youth & Community Centre is the base for the Whalley Range Community Forum, Whalley Range Youth Opportunities Association Whiz Youth Project, Celebrate, Age-friendly Whalley Range & Chorlton and Whalley Range Mental Health & Wellbeing.
We lease the building from Manley Park Methodist Church from Monday to Friday providing a range of classes, events and activities including an evening week-day youth club and holiday play for children.
On Friday evenings the volunteer-led wellbeing group Time to Change meet up offering support and removing the stigma around mental ill health by running a social group with pool, music, Tai Chi, bike repairs and to prepare, cook and eat a meal together.
The Church provides regular fundraising coffee mornings and soup lunches for the community and they let the building out on Saturday evenings to Youth on Solid Ground for their weekly youth club.
Our groups love to cook and want to promote and share cooking and eating together to reduce isolation, improve skills and employability and to improve their health.
We could provide so much more if our currently inadequate and practically unusable kitchen was updated and fit for purpose!
Representatives of the groups who share the building are applying for funding under the banner
Generate our Kitchen
Please could you help us by completing our survey to support our request for funding?
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/5P3BN82
The survey is anonymous but you can add your details if you are interested in getting involved.
Visit the Age-friendly and well-being marquee to read more and to collect a hard copy of the survey.
Thanks for your support!
Email us at generateourkitchen@gmail.com to get involved
Generate our Kitchen – All about us!
The JNR8 (pronounced ‘Generate) Youth & Community Centre is the weekly base for the Whalley Range Community Forum, Whalley Range Youth Opportunities Association (WRYOA) Whiz Youth Project, Celebrate, Age-friendly Whalley Range & Chorlton and Whalley Range Mental Health & Wellbeing.
The JNR8 centre is a fantastic community resource – and we run a wide range of activities during the week for all ages, including ESOL, fitness, confidence building and social and self-help groups for people to come together to reduce isolation/encourage participation and friendships.
Cookery has always been a big part of our community engagement at JNR8 (our under 12 group even featured on Ready Steady Cook!) and we have a long history of providing community meals and food projects including the Food 4 Us cookery toolkit, Heritage cookery projects and intergenerational recipe sharing.
We are currently fundraising to improve our kitchen – as many of our cookery and nutrition classes have had to be put on hold as the kitchen is not fit for purpose.
Our exciting plan is to access funding to turn our current inadequate facilities into a professional kitchen so we can resume all the regular classes – and provide so much more!
We run a work club under the banner Generating Opportunities: a professional kitchen will enable us to provide catering, cooking and nutrition classes to improve skills and employability and projects that use cookery to improve English
In addition we want to resume our shared community meals – such as the successful Come 4 Tea, Festive Feasts and share recipes from around the world.
The Building is lovely – fantastic multi-use hall, storage for our projects, a chill out room, an IT room for computer beginners and improvers, a classroom for learning, teaching, presenting, planning and meeting.
Now look at our existing kitchen…
And look at some of the fantastic projects that go on here:
