Community Cook Up, a food bank in Tottenham

‘The Community Cook up was a community meal and food bank in Tottenham that ran 2017-2023. In 2021 I’d been volunteering at The Cook Up for four years when Alison, the founder, asked me if I wanted to do a community photography project. Our community was made up of wonderful people, and she knew the value and impact a portrait could have on someone's feelings of pride and belonging. So for a year, every week, I photographed members of the Community Cook Up and talked with them about their lives and experiences. The following week I printed out all of the photos and laid them on a big table for people to take. The project became the focal point of the space and the positive impact it had on people, I never could have predicted. The Cook Up was magic, and it was the people who made it. This work is a love letter to them, and to their resilience, solidarity, and unwavering kindness and selflessness they showed one another every week.’

woman with umbrella stood side on in front of a wall, image from a socially engaged series about the community cook up, a food bank and grassroots organisation in Tottenham, London.

Stella

woman lying down on a chair in front of a curtain in a community centre, image from a socially engaged series about the community cook up, a food bank and grassroots organisation in Tottenham, London.

Insaf

Rose

Sylvester

Beryl

man sits on big log in park with trees behind him, image from a socially engaged series about the community cook up, a food bank and grassroots organisation in Tottenham, London.

Darren

Ronke

Marie

Sam and Lisa

woman stood with hands on hips in her garden, she is wearing a floral dress and stood in front of a clothes line with washing on, image from a socially engaged series about the community cook up, a food bank and grassroots organisation in Tottenham

Rosemary

Beryl

woman lies down on bed with arms behind head and bible in front of her, image from a socially engaged series about the community cook up, a food bank and grassroots organisation in Tottenham, London.

Ronke