ActionSpace is London’s leading and longest running visual arts organisation for artists with learning disabilities. They support 70+ artists at their 3 dedicated studios in London and act as a development agency, advocating and promoting diversity within the contemporary visual arts sector.

ActionSpace worked with us on our third cookbook, Secret Dishes From Around the World 3. They commissioned the fantastic artist Thomas Owen to create a drawing for the project. Keep up to date with ActionSpace’s latest projects via their social media:

Instagram: @actionspace

Twitter: @THEActionSpace

Facebook: @actionspacelondon

LinkedIn: @ActionSpace

Hestia supports adults and children in times of crisis. This includes victims of modern slavery, women and children who have experienced domestic abuse, young care leavers and older people.

From giving someone a home, to helping them to get the right mental health support, Hestia supports people at the moment of crisis and enables them to rebuild their life. They are supported by hundreds of volunteers across London who provide specialist skills such as art therapy, IT, gardening and fundraising.

As one of our Partner Charities in London, Hestia can refer people they support to our cookery workshops and cookalongs. They also provide their beneficiaries with free access to our Cooking & Nutrition Portal.

The Food Chain is a London-based charity offering meals, cookery classes and a sense of community to people living with HIV throughout the city. People affected by HIV tend to be more prone to metabolic problems including heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis, making it all the more important that those struggling with the virus have access to high-quality, healthy food. The food chain offers recipes and dietary advice to those living with HIV as well as monthly food hampers delivered for free to those in times of crisis. Grocery deliveries are customised by professional dieticians, and preprepared meals can be provided for those unable to cook for themselves. Meanwhile, The Food Chain’s ‘Eating Together’ program aims to foster trust and confidence within the HIV community, offering communal meals on a weekly basis and organising conferences with expert nutritionists and dieticians.

London is also home to the Maypole Project in Greenwich, which offers free, ongoing support to children and the parents of children with complex educational needs and disabilities. The Maypole Project is committed to helping both children and the families that care for them, providing counselling and therapy to adults and children alike as well as group activity days to bring families closer together and foster friendships amongst children with complex disabilities and learning difficulties. The project’s ‘Befriending’ program offers one-on-one support and mentoring between volunteer befrienders and the charity’s clients to promote companionship and understanding. The project also offers a sensory cabin, garden and play room, providing a safe space for children with sensory impairments to develop their motor functions, colour recognition and hand-eye coordination.

Our Community Cookery School team visited London as part of the Secret Dishes From Around the World book tour in 2021. We spoke to Barbara van Heel, co-director of ActionSpace London, who commissioned the artwork for the Croatian section of the cookbook. You can listen to the interview on our Share Your Secrets podcast, which is available for free via Spotify, Google and Apple!