Our story
Our mission
Our work is grounded in the social, physical, emotional and environmental impact of a shared meal made from surplus ingredients. We’re committed to creating a more equal and more caring society where everyone can feel supported and empowered to live their lives to the fullest. Many of our guests come for lunch and then stay for the warmth, care, inclusion and community they find at the Centre.
Our journey
St Cuthbert’s Centre is a registered charity that has operated as a day centre in Earl’s Court for people in need for over 30 years. In 2017, it was transformed into Refettorio Felix at St Cuthbert’s through a collaboration with Chef Massimo Bottura’s non-profit, Food for Soul, becoming the first Refettorio outside of Italy. With this came a shift in our ethos, developing a greater focus on hospitality and restaurant-quality food, often delivered by renowned guests chefs, as well as an expansion of our additional support services. We also then began our partnership with The Felix Project, whose regular donations of rescued surplus food supply our kitchen with the ingredients to create varied, nutritious meals for our guests each day.
In 2021, we expanded again, adding a new wing of therapeutic spaces called our Green Rooms. The Green Rooms have enabled us to grow our mental health and wellbeing services provision - something that has always been important to our mission, but further underscored by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and several UK lockdowns.
Over the years, we’ve created invaluable relationships, broken bread with some wonderful friends and felt inspired every day. But we’re still constantly reflecting and organising to respond to the needs of our community and society more broadly. Our story is far from over - and we’re so excited to see where we go next…
Our collaborations
“The gesture of sitting down to a meal and breaking bread together is the first step toward rebuilding dignity and creating community”
— Chef Massimo Bottura