Self-confessed foodie Kala Mandviwala has channelled her passion into a community project using surplus produce to make nutritious meals for Tameside’s homeless and others in need.
On Tuesdays, Kala and her team of volunteers head for the kitchen at Hyde Town Hall, where they spend several hours preparing and packing between 160 and 200 meals ready for delivery.
Some are taken out to the Greystones hostel and Pauline Town’s Station community hub in Ashton, while the rest go to Covid patients recuperating at home, people living with cancer, low income families and elderly residents supported by social workers. Referrals also come from Jigsaw Homes.
This voluntary effort is driven by the same practical ‘can do’ approach and professional expertise that Kala devotes to Chiit Chaat, her pop-up Indian food business, recently seen at Stalybridge Street Fest.
Her first port of call each Monday is FareShare Greater Manchester, based at New Smithfield Market in Openshaw which takes produce from all the main supermarkets nearing its ‘use by’ date or slightly after the ‘best before’ date.
“After finding out what is in stock, I go and fill up the car, as many crates as I can manage - tinned, frozen, chilled and fresh produce. It’s only then I can start planning,” she said.
The dish of the day might involve beef mince or tuna pasta. It could just as easily be a hot pot or spaghetti bolognaise.
When we went along to meet the team, the kitchen tables were lined with several dozen recyclable packs which had just been filled with cheese and ham chicken kiev, roasted leeks, pak choi tomatoes and potato wedges. A vegetarian option is also provided wherever possible.
Aware that for some, it will be their only meal that day, Kala insists that it must be balanced and nutritious ‘with carbohydrates and two or three varieties of veg.’
Strict hygiene and food safety regulations are followed. Labels clearly listing the contents, ‘eat before’ date and heating instructions are printed and attached to each pack.
Having worked on similar projects in Manchester and Stockport during the pandemic, Kala was keen to do something similar in Tameside, her home area, and applied to the council for funding.
With the offer of a kitchen and a member of the Healthy Hyde team helping every Tuesday - ‘they have been absolutely brilliant’ - the Tameside meals project was good to go last August.
Six months and 960 hours of team effort later, it had supplied more than 3,240 meals and stopped 1,564kg of food surplus going to landfill. One of the helpers, an ex-offender, told us that being involved with such a worthwhile venture had given him a new purpose in life.
Kala thanked volunteers Allan, David, Ramesh, Helen Chauhan, Cllr Betty Affleck, Emma Worthington (Healthy Hyde), Hyde Town Hall facilities manager Colin Oates and Tameside Council for their support.
More funding and volunteers are needed so that more people can be helped, including parents who cannot afford to feed their children during school holidays. The project also needs a more permanent base.
Kala said: “There is no guarantee we can continue indefinitely at the town hall, now that restrictions have ended and more events and functions are likely to be taking place.”
Any offers of help, contact Kala 07968 323 382 or Kala1962@hotmail.co.uk
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