A COMMUNITY kitchen, which used to regularly provide over 100 meals a night for people, is still without a home.

Bolton Community Kitchen, run by Gareth Bradbury, were given 30 days notice to vacate their premises in Bradshawgate in October last year, putting their Christmas plans in jeopardy.

Since leaving on November 25, they have been appealing for help to find a new home, where they can store food and other supplies and host meals when coronavirus restrictions allow them to.

Bolton Council helped them set up a temporary unit in Tonge where they can store some food in freezers, but this is nowhere near enough to help them do the work they are regularly used to doing.

The kitchen has still been providing and handing out food hampers to those who need it on the streets of Bolton during the recent cold weather.

Gareth said: "We've got a unit, which we are very grateful for, but it is nowhere near enough for the work that we usually do.

"We've still been able to go out with food parcels but we haven't been able to store some of the other supplies, such as toiletries, as we used to do.

"We've been getting help from Bolton Council and Bolton at Home which has been very useful but what we really need is a 'hub' to be able to properly provide for people again.

"It's just so hard to find somewhere that's a good location, and has the right infrastructure in place, there's a lot of factors to keep in mind.

"We've still been getting donations, but nowhere near as much as we used to, but we can't even store that much now, the support we've been receiving from the public has been really good.

"But the main thing is just getting a building, there have been a few we've seen that have been taken just when we thought we might get it or just aren't suitable for us ­— I really don't want to have to store stuff at home again,

"We've just got a property developer on board who's really keen, who knows how to do this sort of thing so hopefully that helps us find somewhere sooner rather than later."

The kitchen is a non-profit group of volunteers who offer food, meals, clothing and toiletries to Bolton’s homeless, vulnerable and elderly.

Before the pandemic they were regularly feeding up to 100 people a night, offering three-course meals at their site in Bradshawgate.