We are excited to welcome the award-winning charity, Migrateful, to the farm!
The new cookery school will offer classes taught by refugees and asylum seekers, bringing people together through the power of food. The new school will host classes in cuisines from Trinidad and Tobago, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Sudan and beyond.
The classes invite participants to cook a meal collaboratively, guided by a refugee chef, who shares their recipes, culture and stories with the group. The experience ends with everyone sitting down around the dinner table to share a delicious meal in a celebration of food and togetherness.
Migrateful has found a natural home at Windmill Hill City Farm, after all, we are a place dedicated to community and connection. The school’s modern, open-plan kitchen with cooking stations and a large dining table provides the perfect setting to cook, share meals, and meet new people.
Classes are open to the public and available to book from November 4th. They also run private classes for team-building days and friends’ socials.
Migrateful provides refugee cooks with paid work, training, and opportunities to build confidence, improve English, and make new connections. Many of the chefs have fled war, violence, or persecution, and the classes offer a path toward independence and employment.
Beyond cooking, Migrateful’s mission is to challenge negative perceptions of migration in the UK. Its model is based on psychologist Gordon Allport’s well-validated “contact theory”, which sets out the conditions under which contact between refugees and host communities can successfully reduce prejudice towards refugees. Migrateful’s cookery classes are designed to meet these conditions, including having participants of equal status working collaboratively on a common goal – in this case the creation of a delicious meal.
In light of recent anti-migrant protests and increased xenophobic attacks in the city, initiatives like this are more important than ever. Migrateful offers a positive solution to the growing divisions in our society, bringing people together to foster understanding and build a Bristol that is welcoming for all.
“I can truly say that Migrateful has changed my life. What it gives chefs is priceless: self-esteem, acceptance and love in the midst of the hostility.”
Elizabeth, Nigerian Migrateful chef.
We couldn’t be happier to welcome Migrateful to our Windmill Hill City Farm family. Book your first class today and support this incredible social enterprise.
