Friday night was BrightonSoup night and my oh my, last Friday was epic. Thank you to everyone who joined us at St Georges Church in Kemptown, all you soup dragons made this event truly special.

From the faces we know well, delivering their tantalising soups and serving everyone with a smile, to those who were out for a different kind of Friday night, bringing friends and work colleagues.  To the couples, the families and even the odd first date…thank you for coming and playing a vital part in your community through supporting these amazing projects.

Pitches galore!

We had a mix of pitches on the evening with the ultimate winner being Sam Hart from Sussex Prisoners’ Families. The win allows them to train more volunteers to offer independent advice and support to the children and families of those facing prison. We were delighted to be able to hand over a very large ceremonial cheque for £893.00! This amount was achieved through all the ticket donations paid in advance and taken at the door on the night, and the  wonderful Ahmed from Papa John’s Pizza Brighton who kindly matched it to double the pot!

Every pitch was impassioned and delivered eloquently making the decision for everyone on the night particularly challenging.  First Dan, from Goodmoney CIC , a Brighton based social enterprise that provides alternative ways of exchanging value within the community, wanted support to develop a voucher wallet that would be sent with every voucher bought. Nick, from St. John’s School & College, who provide education, care and medical therapy to young people aged 7 to 25, wanted help to run the first Glastonbury-style festival for all of their pupils. And Lucy from Rhythmix, a music and social welfare charity providing opportunities for music making to people in challenging circumstances, who desperately need new computer equipment.

You can find out more about each of the projects that pitched here and how else you can help.

“What inspired me tonight is that it is not just about who wins the pitch, it is the constant offers of support or ideas that I’ve witnessed that embodies what community spirit is all about – Thanks Brighton Soup.” – Greg, first time Souper

There was a welcome return from Simon Cobb from Stoneham Bakehouse who won £352.50 at our last event to help purchase a really rather beautiful Elephant Bike to help share the benefits of baking as therapy for the community.  Simon and his team were also featured on BBC South East Today last  Friday talking about how baking can help commnuities. Follow them for details of their next baking session……and GET INVOLVED!

Nice one, Dave!

For those of you who don’t know Dr David Bramwell, we were lucky enough to be taken, if only for a short while, on an entertaining and engaging tour of his journey to some of the most extraordinary communities across the world. Peppered with funny anecdotes and insights, David’s talk reminded us of the importance of connections through conversation and to the people in our community.

“Creating dialogue across a diverse community” – Colin

You can get a taste of David’s journey by watching episode 1 from his The No.9 Bus to Utopia web series. Or catch him at the Catalyst Club every 2nd Thursday of the month.

Soupers Delight

Thank you to our soup contributors! Once again 5 delicious soups catering for all tastes. Lizzie Batten brought a crowd favourite and was once again found in the kitchen helping out. And although BrightonSoup stalwarts Tom Chadd and Ash Sharma  couldn’t make it, they sent their deliciousness along for us to enjoy.

Newcomer, Matteo  Watkins, enjoyed our last event so much he came back and made soup for us, and what a soup it was!

Sam Redfern returned with another lovely soup, but this time also offered himself up as a raffle prize – cooking a meal for 4 at the winners home – including wine! Here he is with the lucky winner. Not sure who does the washing up though :).

And let’s not forget all the people who brought food along to share. Check out our contributors section for more details.

 

All the event photos are on our facebook album.

Next Up

Well that was BrightonSoup @ The Crypt, or St Georges if you prefer :). We had a great time and are now looking ahead to our anniversary soup in Portslade on 1st July. Details to follow.

In the meantime, thanks, love and laughter.

Team Soup