Latest news with #AlfrescoCommunityKitchen
ABC News
23-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Food charity moved on for Vivid Sydney says change will impact years of service at Martin Place
A food charity for the homeless community and those in need says it will be forced to move from its years-long home due to the upcoming Vivid Sydney festival. Alfresco Community Kitchen — which is based on Phillip Street near Martin Place in Sydney's CBD — was informed by the City of Sydney council via email on Monday that it wouldn't be able to serve at its usual location during the time of the festival. The 2025 Vivid Sydney festival begins on Friday and is scheduled to operate until June 14. It is the first time Vivid has included Martin Place in its programming since 2018, with a slate of events and lighting displays planned. Carly Hall, an organiser with Alfresco Community Kitchen, said the email also included a map with a suggested alternative "blocks and blocks away". The council later confirmed those locations included nearby Hyde Park, but Ms Hall said even a short move would be effectively impossible to communicate to those who rely on the soup kitchen with very little notice. "With no way to get this information to our rough sleeping community, I don't know how they expect us to distribute this information that, 'Hey, as of tomorrow, we won't be serving where you usually get a meal. But hey, like blocks and blocks away there might be another option'," Ms Hall told 702 ABC Radio Sydney. "While we could serve somewhere else, these are people who for years we've served at the same place at the same time, people without reliable communication. Alfresco has been serving in Martin Place for more than four years. Ms Hall said the group was planning a limited service to show up for those in need, but some of the city's suggested locations likely wouldn't be suitable as "thousands of people are going to be using them as a thoroughfare for Vivid". "The community we service aren't going to want to be where tourists are," she added. In a statement provided to the ABC, a City of Sydney spokesperson said that due to safety reasons, operators and vehicles not associated with Vivid would be turned away from Martin Place. "It is a devastating reality, but declining the state government's request to host Vivid in Martin Place won't end the food security crisis," the spokesperson said. Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the city approved the state government's request to use Martin Place in April. "Rather than having known regular users of Martin Place show up and discover these barriers themselves, we tried to contact as many as possible," Cr Moore wrote on social media. "For this charity, we suggested alternative nearby service delivery locations such as Hyde Park." The lord mayor pointed to the City of Sydney's $1.5 million in annual spending on food relief and other support to address homelessness. "The City works tirelessly to meet all its responsibilities — providing more food relief and homelessness support than any other council, and providing sites for community events like Vivid, which are also really important," Cr Moore wrote. Acting CEO of Destination NSW, Karen Jones, told ABC Radio Sydney the agency has had approval for using Martin Place for Vivid since April, and that it was up to City of Sydney to engage with the community kitchens. "We are absolutely open to continuing to work with the City of Sydney to come to a solution and to try and resolve the situation," Ms Jones told ABC Radio Sydney Breakfast. "We recognise and we deeply respect the work of Alfresco Community Kitchen." The NSW state government did not immediately reply to the ABC's request for comment on the matter. Ms Hall said this was the first time her organisation — which budgets for between 150 and 200 meals per service — had been moved on due to Vivid and had usually operated as normal throughout the festivities. The kitchen is on hand with dinner every Tuesday and every second Saturday. "Everyone is just passing the buck," she said. "It's just frustrating, deeply frustrating." According to federal government data, there were 24,469 people in NSW who sought specialist homelessness services in July 2024, a monthly figure that has gradually crept upwards since 2017. Food insecurity also remains a consistent issue in the state. According to food charity Foodbank's data, 28 per cent of people in metropolitan NSW were considered food insecure in 2024.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘Such a clear message': homeless community kitchen told to move last-minute during Sydney's Vivid festival
A soup kitchen that serves hundreds of meals each week to Sydney's homeless community has been told at the last minute that they will not be able to set up during Vivid, leaving them nowhere else to go. The Alfresco Community Kitchen runs on Tuesdays and every second Sunday in Martin Place, next to the train station in the heart of Sydney's CBD. But on Monday, two of the kitchen's organisers, Tash Sanjay and Carly Hall, were sent an email from the City of Sydney telling them they would have to move. The email, seen by Guardian Australia, said that between Friday 23 May and Sunday 15 June they would have to find a new location. But on Tuesday morning, the area where the kitchen normally serves food was already cordoned off, with concrete blocks placed inside in preparation for an art installation to be placed there for the duration of the annual festival. 'We've been serving in the same spot for years at Martin Place,' Hall said on Wednesday. 'And it's never been a problem, even during Vivid.' With just a day's notice, Hall said organisers had no way of contacting the community to tell them the service needed to be moved, and when organisers arrived on Tuesday night, the area was already cordoned off with metal fencing. 'I don't know whether the City of Sydney thought we were just going to sort of whip around a group email to the rough sleepers, to tell them that the location had to change for the next day,' Hall said. 'That is just not feasible, in any sense.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email She said while the council had suggested other areas in the CBD, such as Queens Square or the Macquarie Street corner of Hyde Park, the kitchen's normal location was crucial because it was known to the community and surrounded by amenities. 'The location is really important and the City of Sydney knows that,' Hall said. 'Some of our patrons have disabilities, physical and intellectual, and this allows them to catch the train. It has lift access. It is well-lit, it has bathrooms.' On Tuesday, the kitchen served food next to the cordoned-off area, but there was nowhere for people eating to sit, Hall and Sanjay said. And during Vivid, they added, it would be filled with tourists. The kitchen partners with North Sydney school Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College and local restaurants and bakeries including Chargrill Charlie's, Attimo and Maggio's to provide high-quality food for those who cannot afford it. They generally provide 200 meals to about 150 people each time. Hall said the Alfresco Community Kitchen had been serving food for more than four years and had always been in the same position. In previous years, they did not have to move their site during Vivid, she said. She said the alternative sites proposed by the City of Sydney for the next few weeks were unsuitable because they did not have enough amenities – and without a suitable venue, they could miss six food services. 'It really does send such a clear message – and such a concerning message – about the priorities of the City of Sydney,' Hall said. 'That a light installation, which could be installed anywhere, trumps the basic needs of food and connection of these vulnerable people, who won't know where else to get it so will be stranded for a month.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Gregory Thurston, who has been coming to the kitchen for more than a decade, said it was not just about getting a meal. 'I've been coming here for years, since about 2013,' Thurston said. 'It's a place where everyone gets to see each other and help each other. They have medical services that come here too. [A Kirketon Road Centre mobile outreach van parks next to the kitchen, offering accessible treatments including flu shots and diabetes medication.] 'We get a chance to help ourselves and keep everybody going.' In a statement, the City of Sydney said it 'was devastating ' but not hosting Vivid in Martin PLace would not 'end the food security crisis'. The spokesperson said Destination NSW, which runs Vivid, had an approved permit to 'activate Martin Place'. 'Due to safety reasons, operators or vehicles not associated with the event who attempt to access Martin Place during this period will be turned away by the event organiser's security and NSW police,' the spokesperson said. 'The state government requires the site for Vivid, which also provides an important function for our city, and we have suggested alternate locations for this food service.' The spokesperson highlighted the city's annual funding of a$1.5m food relief program and $1.4m for specialist services. 'We understand both the level of need, and the service's frustration,' they said. 'The City of Sydney works tirelessly to meet all its responsibilities.'
