What to expect at a Local Welcome meal

12:15 - 12:30

You’ll be welcomed by our leaders who will tick you off on the guest list, give you your name label and show you to your table. The person that you sit down next to will be your cooking partner. 

12:30 - 13:15

The leader leading your table will guide you through the recipe steps and read out questions for you and your cooking partner to answer.

13:15 - 13:30

You’ll help create one big table , wipe it down and lay it out, ready for lunch.

13:30 - 14:00

Lunch is served - it’s time to satisfy the appetite you’ve been working up!

14:00 - 14:30

You’ll help wash up the cooking and eating equipment and pack it back into our boxes. 

14:30

Time for you, and all our other members to say goodbye! The leaders will stay behind to lock up the venue.

Our members who have moved to the UK recently tell us that our meals are a great place to practise their English.

Some members are fluent already. For others, the meal might be the first opportunity they’ve had to practise since arriving in the UK.

The beauty of cooking and eating together is that you always have something to do with your hands. This means there’s plenty of opportunity for non-verbal communication to fend off any  awkwardness and switch on the smiles :-)

We know that everyone at our meals wants to be welcoming towards everyone they meet , and we know new members sometimes worry about saying the wrong thing.

The questions you’ll be answering whilst cooking with your table are designed to keep the conversation flowing in a positive and light-hearted direction. They break the ice and help pave the way to starting your own conversations later on, when the questions are finished.

Sometimes someone might choose to open up to you about their lives, including some of the difficult things they might have encountered.

Just by listening to their story, you will have supported them and given them the time and space to feel heard. This is truly valuable.

However, if a conversation that you have had with anyone at a meal has made you feel worried or anxious about their safety, or, if you need a listening ear to process what you have spoken about, you can confide in one of our leaders. Our Leaders are there to help and support you. 

Delicious food! All our recipes are vegetarian, and our menus on the day are also able to be tweaked to ensure they’re inclusive for people with vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free diets. We avoid common allergens, like peanuts, and you can ask a leader if you’d like to see allergen information for a recipe. Many people tell us they end up enjoying our recipes at home too.

You may bring food to share at meals as long as you (or the leaders) tell everyone attending the meal that you brought this item, so everyone understands it’s separate from what was purchased in the usual food shop (this is important because of allergens!). 

In particular, we’re keen for any food items which might otherwise not be consumed to the meal as part of our commitment to use more surplus food at our meals (e.g. that tinned ingredient you’re just not sure what to do with)! 

If you’re thinking of bringing a food item to a meal, please check that:

1. It is Vegetarian or Vegan

2. It does not require reheating

3. It has been stored safely - e.g. if it needs to be refrigerated

4. It is in its original, intact, packaging with clear allergen information and displaying best before/use by dates that haven’t passed.

If the food item is homemade: Please share when it was made with the leaders, and warn members if there are any known allergens in it. Please never guarantee that there aren’t any allergens present - cross-contamination is difficult to avoid whilst home-cooking, and sometimes even the best home-cooks might forget an ingredient whilst listing them!

Photos are lovely, but not everyone enjoys having their photo taken! If you would like to take photos or videos, please ask people's permission first. This includes checking with them whether you can share the photo with Local Welcome and whether they’d be happy for the photo to be posted on social media.

If the photo contains a person under the age of 18, you must check with the adult accompanying them to the meal.

If you’re not confident someone understands what you’re asking and/or what they’ve signalled consent to it’s best to assume they haven’t consented.

Our meals are the perfect place to meet people who you would not have otherwise met and make new friends. We love seeing and hearing about the friendships that flourish after igniting around our tables!

It's up to you if you'd like to share your number with people you've met at a meal, or meet up with them outside the meal. Just make sure the person you’re exchanging numbers with is over the age of 18.

Remember that it is always okay to not share your number and to only see the people you meet at meals instead.

Children are welcome! Under 18s don’t need a ticket to attend if they are accompanied by an adult ticket holder. 

There are quite a lot of sharp and hot things present at our meals, so your children will need to be supervised at all times.

We don’t provide any activities specifically for children, but there will usually be other children to play with. Children are also welcome to join in with the cooking when it’s safe to do so!

Yes, of course. Local Welcome meals are fun for people attending alone, and groups of friends alike. Everyone needs a ticket so either book an extra one for your friend, or send them to our website so they can book themselves.

Once you’ve signed up as a member, you can attend as little or as often as you like. Therefore, your next  meal could be next month, or even next year!

Once you’ve attended your first meal, we will get in touch afterwards to invite you to sign up as a member. You can find out more about membership (or sign up now!) here on our website: localwelcome.org/membership