Beyond The Flavour

In the winter of 2021, about 20 asylum seekers and refugees of different nations, ages and stages of life, gathered as a community at HTB St Luke's Earls Court Church. Despite all having taken different journeys to arrive in the same place, they enjoyed meeting for a warm meal and community. One day, the group approached us and asked "can we make this a weekly meeting?"... Since then a partnership between Holy Trinity Brompton Church, Hillsong Church, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was born. What began as a simple weekly gathering of over 150 individuals at HTB St. Luke's Earl's Court Church grew into a place to enjoy a warm meal, practice their English, have a haircut, or receive legal support on their asylum cases.There is also medical sign posting and provisions for other needs such as SIM cards and clothes. At the community cafe, we continue to provide a welcoming environment and celebrate different cultures from across the world through art, music, and conversations. The guests also began to share amazing recipes and cook meals from their cultures for others. From this, we had a thought... how exciting would it be to share these amazing dishes of love, belonging, and safety with the world? So here we are! We hope that you will enjoy these dishes, crafted with love, and experience the warm community wherever you are.