The Antwerp Arms is a community-owned pub, which means we do much more than serve you a pint! Through our community work and with our incredible team of volunteers, we support vulnerable people in crisis, reduce isolation, and raise awareness for people with disabilities.
Community Lunch Programme – Every Tuesday
Every Tuesday afternoon, we serve a free lunch in the pub to anyone in need of a hot meal and some company, and we deliver free meals to homeless and vulnerable people.
Our community kitchen is run entirely by volunteers and supported by generous food donations from the Felix Project and Fairfax Meadow Butchers. The Antwerp Arms Association also provides funding, training and equipment to keep the kitchen running smoothly.
The community kitchen is about so much more than a hot meal - for both our visitors and our volunteers, it’s a place to meet other people, have friendly conversation and enjoy the warmth and support of our wonderful community. Watch the video to hear the stories of some of our friends!
Become A Volunteer
We’re always looking for new volunteers for our community kitchen, and we’re also on the lookout for people to join our volunteer gardeners who tend to our hanging baskets and the kitchen garden at the back of the pub.
If you are interested in getting involved, please email admin@antwerparms.co.uk.
How It All Started
In May 2016 we formed a formal partnership with local charity, CRUTCH Haringey, which is based in the Tottenham Citizens advice Bureau. They identified several areas that we as a community-owned local business can make a difference to for people in need. With our limited space we initially offered a weekly free hot lunch to 30 people which we wanted to expand to include additional activities such as healthy walks; volunteer gardening and encourage people attend events and activities in our off-peak hours. Our aims were to:
Provide hot food to people in temporary accommodation
Provide food to families in crisis
Bring people together who are isolated through mental health/unemployment
Raise people’s self-esteem and basic skills through volunteering opportunities
We secured a small grant from the London Evening Standard to employ a Community Cook Coordinator to manage the social lunches and recruited and trained volunteer cooks in Level 2 Food & Hygiene training. We have served over 600 people to date.
Sharing Earth
In October 2017, the Well Communities Fund, awarded Sharing Earth a grant of £3,000 to re-design the pub garden which was concrete slabs and a fence, into an ‘edible garden’ through a series of 15 workshops showing local people how to grow their own food in a small space. The sessions were well attended and the result is a beautiful oasis which is still being cared for by the volunteers once a week and provides the kitchen with fresh salad and herbs.
Partnerships
The Antwerp Arms Association (AAA) has developed partnerships with the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust, Friends of Bruce Castle Park, Crutch Haringey, Accenture, Plunkett Foundation, and Reach and Connect, to deliver our objectives. The AAA has also supported the establishment of two small catering businesses using our kitchen and fed over 600 people in crisis through its community lunch service.
Friends of Bruce Castle Park
In July 2018, in collaboration with the AAA, Friends of Bruce Castle Park hosted a family picnic in the park, with live music from around the world. The team have hosted several free community events including music, poetry and Easter Hunt.
Accenture Team
In December 2017 several teams at Accenture sponsored cooked and served three of our community lunches as well as family picnics in Bruce Castle Park in August 2018, providing free meals for families with games in the park.
In December 2019, the Accenture team again served up delicious traditional festive feast with Christmas crackers, sweet treats and a raffle in partnership with Reach and Connect, a new service for Haringey residents age 50+. Reach and Connect supports people to live a healthy life, which includes encouraging them to participate in social events.
“It was a wonderful day” said Nita who lives on her own “I met other people, played dominoes and have found out about a lunch club and yoga in the park”
“We love what you do for the community each week and we felt really honoured to be able to join you. The feedback from our team has been fantastic and we are so glad we were able to help out, even in a small way” – Ewan Mackay, Accenture
Other Community Projects & Achievements:
We worked with Friends of Bruce Castle Park to improve the local park
Sourced Bicycle racks by the pub to encourage cycling
We decorated the pub frontage and hung flower baskets to upgrade the street view
Offered space free of charge to local community groups for meetings and events
With the help of the local community, we staged parties to celebrate the Pub’s first, second, third and fourth birthdays. This raised funds for the Mayor of Haringey’s Charity Appeal as well as funds for local charities
Members helped our partnership with CRUTCH Haringey to host Community lunches and picnics for those in need
We hosted children’s Christmas parties and carol singing with the local community choir
Financed Quiz and Live Music nights to bring people together
Our staff won CAMRA North London’s Pub of the Season Winter 2015/16 for beer quality and atmosphere
In May 2018 we celebrated our third birthday and the Mayor of Haringey officially opened our new space.