The People's Kitchen: four decades of friendship and food in Newcastle

In 1985, a Newcastle woman named Alison Kay began walking the city's streets carrying flasks of homemade soup. She had been shocked by a newspaper report about a homeless man who had died alone, and she was determined to offer warmth and dignity to the people she called "her friends". Four decades on, the charity she founded, The People's Kitchen, is one of the best-known in the North East.

Its beginnings were humble. With help from local volunteers, Alison set up a small trolley in Eldon Square offering soup, pop and bread, whatever she could gather from local shops. Within a year she had a team of 40 volunteers, and together they opened the first People's Kitchen, offering food, clothes and a warm fire to anyone who needed them. In 1997 she received an honorary degree from Newcastle University for her work. She died in 2001, aged 91, but her principles of friendship and food remain at the heart of everything the charity does.

The Kitchen marked its 40th anniversary in 2025, and Alison's daughter, Ailie Goddard, paid an emotional visit, meeting some of the original volunteers who had worked alongside her mother. "It started with one person and a flask," she said. "Now it's a lifeline for hundreds every day."

Today the charity serves hundreds of hot meals every day, 365 days a year, and hands out clothing, toiletries, sleeping bags and mobile phones. Hot showers are available at the Alison Centre, a telephone team makes support calls to tackle loneliness, and when Friends move into their first home, the Kitchen helps with food, furniture and bedding. It also signposts people to professional partners for health, addiction and mental wellbeing support.

Remarkably, the whole operation is run by volunteers. Nearly 300 people give more than 50,000 unpaid hours every year, and the charity receives no government funding, relying instead on public donations, businesses and community support.

There are thoughtful touches too. One winter evening was dedicated to Friends with dogs, with more than 100 pet gifts handed out, supported by Vicky Pattison, who has championed the Kitchen's Feed a Friend for a Fiver campaign.

The People's Kitchen is always looking for volunteers and donations, and its wishlist, volunteering vacancies and donation page are on its website.