Shanaz Gul has run the Heritage Cooking Company CIC since 2016. The company recently took over the running of two cafes at The Crompton Centre in Harehills and at the Garforth Community Hub.

“The Heritage Cooking Company aims to support people to achieve the best in their health and wellbeing; we want to help people achieve their life ambitions”, says Shanaz, “we know that food brings communities together and that reduces social isolation”.

 Shanaz explains that providing a safe space for communities to meet can provide the first step towards achieving their aims.

“When we heard about the council scheme to provide Warm Spaces across Leeds we didn’t hesitate. It’s exactly in line with our values; if someone can’t afford to buy themselves a hot drink, we would never turn them away; its more important that people have a place to go where they feel warm, welcomed and safe.”

The Heritage Cooking Company has also helped men and women achieve their Food Hygiene Level 2 qualification; Shanaz tells how this fits into the company’s broader ambitions.

“Many of the people we have helped achieve their Food Hygiene have then gone on to create their own food businesses”,

Shanaz explains how, rather than creating competition, this helps the growth of the business.

“We have put a menu together of all the different cultural food menus that we can tap into via the business we support; this way, we can encourage people to support local businesses and give them a wide chose of menus”.

“I was a youth worker when I first started working,” says Shanaz.

Her passion for youth work is still evident as she tells me about their work at Garforth Hub:

“Young people were coming into the café, evidently bored; there isn’t a lot for the youth in Garforth; they told us how they wanted a safe space to go and hang out.”

Once they got to know Shanaz and her staff and volunteers, they also wanted to help.

“We have two young people who regularly volunteer and many others asking.”

says Shanaz, “we plan to teach the young people basic cooking skills, but also skills that will help them into employment such as barista and customer service skills.”

It just goes to show that people first exploring Warm Spaces as a place for a listening ear and to keep warm can also see how their long-term hopes and aspirations are also nurtured.

Leeds City Council has allocated funding from the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Cost Of Living Emergency Fund to support organisations that wish to operate Warm Spaces this winter. This fund is being administered by Voluntary Action Leeds (VAL) find out more here: 

#WarmwelcomeLeeds

By Claire Graham
(VAL Project Worker)

Voluntary Action Leeds