Taz Khan MBE, Founder of London’s Community Kitchen and former Cordon Bleu chef, has opened a new community-run café and cookery school at Grand Union in Wembley, with proceeds spent helping London’s communities fight food insecurity.
This opening forms part of London Community Kitchen’s ‘zero waste, zero hunger’ charitable initiatives, which, for more than 10 years, have prevented good food from going to landfill. Instead, Taz and his team distributes food to those who find themselves without reliable access to enough nutritious, affordable, and healthy produce.
The Pantry is located within the Grand Union Community Hub, which sits within the 22-acre, all-encompassing canalside community at Grand Union, and has been launched in partnership with the Grand Union Development Trust charity, the United Colleges Group and St George.
The café is open 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday, and is run by London’s Community Kitchen and 22 rotating students from the College of Northwest London and City of Westminster College, of United Colleges Group, as part of an employment training pathway and accreditation.
As well as providing teas, soft drinks and barista-style coffee, the students transform a daily delivery of produce, which would otherwise be thrown away, into delicious food including sandwiches and lunch options for customers. This produce is donated each day from companies including Marks & Spencer, Amazon and the recently opened Grand Union Co-Op store.
Each week, London’s Community Kitchen supports circa 25,000 individuals, and intercepts around 75 metric tonnes of food from going to landfill, all while delivering courses on healthy food and nutrition, cooking with new produce, and how to eat well on a budget to over 2,000 people.
These courses will be at Grand Union and will take place within the Pantry’s kitchen. Further details of these courses will be available in due course.
Taz Khan MBE, founder of London’s Community Kitchen, said: “The Grand Union Community Hub in Alperton is set to become a thriving cornerstone for our diverse Brent Community. This essential space welcomes all, offering a safe haven to connect, mingle and grow together. Featuring a community café, it will serve our varied residents while hosting an innovative internship programme with the United Colleges Group students. Here, they’ll gain hands-on hospitality skills, confidence and independence, preparing them for a real-world setting. The hub’s success hinges on collaboration between Brent’s local authority, St George and the voluntary sector - united efforts that empower communities to achieve their dreams. This bold step forward promises a lasting legacy for years to come.”
Brian Wilson, Chair of the Grand Union Development Trust, comments: “It fills me with delight to walk into the Grand Union Community Hub and be greeted by such a buzz, whether that be from our regulars catching up over coffee & cake, families popping in for a bite to eat or our students working front of house. We always intended for the Hub to be a space where people can come together to make connections, learn new skills and importantly, socialise and have fun, and that is exactly what Taz and London’s Community Kitchen have achieved here.”
Stephen Davis, CEO and Group Principal of United Colleges Group, said: “We are proud to be part of The Pantry community café; a project that embodies inclusivity and community empowerment.
“This initiative underscores our college commitment to fostering social cohesion and creating accessible spaces that uplift everyone. We’re incredibly proud of our students and are grateful to be working alongside our local partners. We look forward to seeing the café thrive as a cornerstone of community life.”
David, a United Colleges Group student, said: "During my work experience at the café, I’ve learned important skills such as food preparation, teamwork, time management and keeping the kitchen clean and safe. The staff are supportive, and the skills I’m learning have made me more confident and prepared to work in kitchens, cafes, or any job where teamwork, organisation, and communication are important. The experience has helped me decide which jobs I enjoy, what I am good at, and what kind of work makes me feel happy.”
London’s Community Kitchen will form part of the Grand Union community being delivered by St George, comprising 3,350 homes, of which 35% are affordable.
Grand Union has a mix of one, two and three bedroom homes, as well as a canalside piazza, Anytime Fitness gym, Benham & Reeves estate agents, two-lane bowling alley, entertainment room, residents’ lounge, Co-op, Peapods nursery and Crepes+Coffee café, which operates from the development’s narrowboat PAVO. There is also 14 acres of lush open space to explore, featuring beautifully landscaped gardens, serene meadows, scenic riverside walks and a waterfall.
Marcus Blake, Regional Managing Director at St George, adds: “We are very lucky to be working with London’s Community Kitchen, whose commitment to supporting and nurturing our community is second to none. The Hub is a space to be proud of and will not only benefit the Grand Union neighbourhood but those living and working in the surrounding area too.”
For more information on London’s Community Kitchen, follow @londonscommunitykitchen or contact the team via www.londonscommunitykitchen.co.uk/contact
For further information about Grand Union and the homes currently available to move into please contact the Sales team on 020 8003 2691.
You can also follow Grand Union on Instagram for news/events: @GrandUnion.London.
