A JoyFull first year

Frédérie Lecerf set up Joyfull Greens in Surrey, England in spring 2024 under the mentorship of Global Plant Kitchens. Here she shares some of the highs and lows from that first year and her hopes for the future.

Joyfull Greens is a community cookery school in Godalming, dedicated to supporting people in developing the skills and confidence to prepare healthy, affordable, plant-based meals that promote better physical, mental, and planetary health.

The community classes will be partially supported by income from paid-for classes, delivered by professional & semi-professional chefs, some already recruited to the team.

The team loves food and is committed to promoting the twin benefits of community and health, recognising that we are working within a cultural and economic milieu which seems to mitigate against both of these pillars of personal and community wellbeing.

Setting up a new project is a big undertaking and the idea can be daunting to many people new to Global Plant Kitchens. Frédie told us that a core highlight has been finding people who believe in the project and are prepared to support it, either as part of the team, mentors, volunteers or just supporters. She said, “realising that there are so many people prepared to give up their time or to support the project has been uplifting. This came to fruition in the first five community classes and the two funding streams, demonstrating, respectively, local and political support. All of this boosted my personal confidence in respect to promoting and delivering Joyfull Greens!”

This engagement did surprise her as she did not realise so many people shared the same passion. The Borough and County Council have also been supportive with funding which has been a real stepping stone for this project to flourish.

At Global Plant Kitchens we appreciate how overwhelming setting up a community cookery school can be. It took getting started for Frédie to realise just how much work it would take, and that she would need to focus on small, meaningful steps to overcome her doubt. These included following our ten steps to get started. The project is now gathering interest from other organisations which is fantastic however there is not capacity to work with them yet.

Frédie reflected on the support that Made In Hackney provided to get the idea of the ground through support, mentoring and resources. “They are the beacon, inspiration and provider of aspiration that helped us move from concept to real project. Without the expertise they have and the guidance they offered, especially in terms of charting a path through these early parts of the project, Joyfull Greens would not have made the progress it has made so far,” she said.

Global Plant Kitchens specifically supports plant-based and vegan community kitchens and cookery schools. This was central to Frédie’s founding principles. She shares, “unless we take action to support people in eating better, unless we see a shift in our diet, in the way we take care of ourselves, chronic diseases, mental health issues will continue to rise at a frightening rate. Helping people to cook & eat more plants is a powerful way to support personal health, reduce environmental impact, and make nutritious food more accessible.

Joyfull Greens is about helping to create an environment which facilitates a more positive environment whilst breaking the negative joyless mythology that has grown up around vegetarian and vegan diets.”

Running a new enterprise is not easy but it should bring joy – to you and others! Frédie is inspired by the ability they have to play a positive part in the local community and support better health. She told us, “food can be a powerful tool for healing, connection and preventative health. Connecting with people in local communities, but also through GP surgeries, local charities and social prescribers, making a difference and enhancing our own knowledge and skills; whilst doing that really does make us Joyfull!”

Frédie’s top tips for others who want to start a vegan community cookery school or kitchen:
– Start small: take baby-steps first.
– You can’t do it all yourself! Find your tribe.
– Scope the area for similar projects – don’t see them as competition, but rather, as a community with which to engage.
– Look wider for successful, similar approaches and projects and use social media to build a wide community of support.
– Contact local political groups who are likely to be interested and attend meetings so that you become known.
– Latch onto the positivity and kindness of others. You never know who they know and how they might be able to help – keep funding streams, potential community kitchen spaces and practical help front of mind.
– Bumps in the road are learning points!

Get supported to start a community food project through our free online resources and modules.

Find out more about Joyfull Greens at joyfullgreens.com, Instagram or Facebook.