United in Taste: Ten amazing things I learned about the Welcome Café at St Augustine’s
18 March 2025
Volunteer Evie Hairsing recently spent time shadowing our Welcome Café team, and she has shared her experience of the behind-the-scenes of our global kitchen.
Photography by Matt Radcliffe Photo and Film and St Augustine’s Staff
Here’s what she had to say
Last summer I spent time at St Augustine’s Welcome Café, which is a free community kitchen and lunch at the heart of the centre, running every Monday and Thursday.
I have a longstanding interest in food and community building and have worked in many different community kitchens, so I felt incredibly lucky to visit St Augustine’s, where food is prepared with an incredible amount of care and attention to detail, and the atmosphere is inclusive, friendly and feels like family.
Here are ten things I learned:
1. The Welcome Café is powered by volunteers
The Welcome Café is run by Arsalan, the Activities Coordinator. He has a team of 21 amazing volunteers, who work together to transform ingredients into incredible meals. To start volunteering, people take a tour of the kitchen and have food hygiene and cooking inductions. Once they have volunteered several times, some choose to take on the new challenge of being Chef of the Day. Each shift, Arsalan and the chef plan a meal and coordinate volunteers to peel, chop and help create perfection! Together, they prepare an average of 170 meals a week, 30% of which are vegetarian.
2. The food spans the globe…
In the short time I was volunteering at St Augustine’s, I learned to cook a wide range of dishes, from Iranian Chicken and Barberries, to a Pakistani Biryani, to Nigerian Puff Puff. Each dish is crafted with care and attention, led by the chef. The café has volunteers from Nigeria, Syria, Iran, Kurdistan, Togo, Afghanistan, Mexico, Pakistan, Albania, and Eritrea.
Volunteers told me that this diversity is the strength of both the menu and the team. People love to meet friends from other cultures and share recipes.
‘I volunteer because I love to cook and I have met people from lots of different countries in the kitchen’ – Blessing
3. But it comes from nearby…
Whilst spanning the whole globe, the food at St Augustine’s is locally sourced. Most of the ingredients come from shops in the neighbourhood, as well as bulk produce being delivered by Suma – a workers’ co-operative based in Leeds.
Some of the food comes from even closer to home – the centre’s community garden!
Homegrown ingredients like leafy chard and kale, comforting potatoes and juicy courgettes can all be found in the weekly menu. This means that the team can feed huge crowds whilst being sustainable.
4. The café supports healthy, varied diets
Because of the fresh ingredients and varied menu, the Welcome Café serves nutritious food that nourishes the soul and the body. This is especially important for people who are facing food insecurity, including those living in Asylum hotels, who cannot access healthy food. Around 30% of meals served are vegetarian, and each dish is packed with vegetables, carbohydrates and protein.
‘People who are living in the hotels need this food. They do not get good and healthy food there. We live in a society with a lot of fast food, so it can be hard to find something balanced.’ – Juliet
‘When I came to the UK, I didn’t eat well. I didn’t know what to make, so I ate fries and burgers. I did not feel well. The Doctor said please stop eating like this. When I came here, I started to be healthy and eat vegetables. Now I feel better’ – Salma
5. Volunteering improves health and wellbeing
Beyond the nutritional benefits of the food, for many volunteers, helping at the café helps improve their mental health and provides a break from life’s daily struggles. For several centre members, volunteering helped them to cope with chronic illness.
‘When I come here, I forget all the pain in my body. My doctor gave me a sick note to stay home because my back and my legs hurt. Now, I feel better’ – Rayan
‘ Coming here helps me get out of the house, my husband is ill and life can be hard. But when I come here, I forget my problems for a while.’ – Asia
6. Volunteering supports conversation and English language skills
When you enter St Augustine’s on a Monday or Thursday, you will hear lots of lively conversation coming from the kitchen. Many people start volunteering so that they can meet new people and practice speaking English when they first arrive in Halifax.
‘The stress of leaving my country made me forget how to speak English. It is good to be working here because my memory of it came back’ – Salma
‘I love being in the kitchen and I cook a lot at home, but here it is good to make friends and socialise’ – Kaykay
7. The café creates a sense of purpose and belonging
Almost every volunteer told me that their primary motivation is to help other people. When faced with isolation and loneliness, and unable to engage in paid work, many people seeking asylum have found a renewed sense of meaning and belonging in the kitchen.
‘I like to work hard to help other people – it makes me happy in my heart when I can help’ – Rayan
8. Connections are made around the table
The food is absolutely delicious – there is no doubt about that. However, everyone I had the pleasure of meeting explained that the food was a vehicle for a special kind of magic – care, kindness and warmth that was spread through the meals.
Whether standing around the kitchen counter or sitting around the table, food allows people to get to know each other and connect on a deeper level.
‘The chef is like a magician, adding secret magic. You are sitting with a stranger and eating, and suddenly sharing things about your family and background and then you’re friends. Food creates a deep connection. We are United in Taste‘ – Hana
9. The café is the beating heart of the community
The Welcome Café has its name for a reason – it sits in the very centre of the activities building, and draws people into the centre. With lively conversation, people of all ages having fun together, delicious food and a team effort to clear up and reset the space, the welcome café is the kitchen table in the very big family that is St Augustine’s, where nobody will be alone!
‘It has a massive impact, especially for new arrivals, showing people that they are not strangers, we are all friends and family’ – Emma and Bob
10 – Anyone can eat here!
The welcome café is open to anyone who would like to come and share a delicious meal. All you need to do is come to St Augustine’s centre on a Monday or Thursday, scan the QR code to order a meal, and sit with someone new and have a chat!
Everybody is truly welcome.
This blog was written by Evie Hairsing, volunteer.