An end-of-year note from Iolanda
- By Fiona
And end of year note from Iolanda
Thank you for your support in what has been quite the rollercoaster year for Plateful
Café.
The biggest challenge ever remains the lack of a permanent venue.
Despite an ever-increasing demand for our catering services, presence at pop ups
and events, we continue to cook and deliver food from my house. In 2025 we have
catered for over fifty events all over London, but predominantly in south-east.
Quite often, we cook over three days for a single event due to a lack of storage and space
to accommodate multiple cooks each time in a domestic kitchen. I am the
shopper, cook, cleaner, driver, fundraiser, coordinator, networker, advocate and so
many more roles that it would be impossible to list them all. It is exhausting!
As a Founder I have a moral responsibility to keep going in the interest of others and
to continue to make a difference in the locality and in the lives of so many people. I
continue to believe that we can find ways to change the narrative on migration and
rolling up her sleeves to make it happen. We have travelled so far but the journey
continues to be so long and arduous on the road to finding our home.
I continue to be privileged to work with a wonderful team of volunteers supporting all
our efforts as we are still volunteer-run and refugee-led.
It is not an understatement to say that the whole team has had to dig deep this year,
with their trademark passion and commitment. Holding our mission in mind and
navigating anti-migration sentiment in the UK has only made us more determined to
realise our vision. As we look towards 2026, we remain driven by the belief that
Britain’s story is richer, deeper, and more interconnected than the headlines suggest.
A permanent Plateful Café will be a place where that full picture is visible, celebrated
and understood. Being a place where everyone can feel that they belong is central
to everything we do and the training which we hope to restart.
~ Iolanda Chirico
Our Amazing Volunteers
Before launching into some of the incredible things our volunteers had to say about the organisation, a quick acknowledgement of their dedication must first be made. With 48 volunteers spread across eight teams of various operations, Plateful Café truly embodies what it means to be volunteer-run. A big thank you to all of you – your efforts do not go unnoticed.
“My decision to volunteer with Plateful stemmed from my awareness of the disadvantages and struggles of refugees and asylum-seekers in the UK. Plateful’s aim to reduce socio-economic and ethnic inequality resonates with me deeply.” Orla, Admin Volunteer
“I love working with Plateful, working alongside the chefs and volunteers who have faced unimaginable challenges to reach and settle in the UK.” Anne, Plateful driver
What Customers Had to Say
2025 was a year of great success for Plateful. It saw catering done for a myriad of events, leaving very fed and satisfied customers. The organisation aims to use the uniting force of food to diffuse its message, and below are some examples of just that.
“I really liked the ethos of Plateful Café: supporting refugee chefs – and it turns out the food is absolutely fabulous too. It was great value for money for our cowork Christmas Party 2025: interesting, tasty and well presented too. Highly recommend!”
Sarah Greene, Co-Founder Buro Cowork
“Everyone had such a lovely time. Seriously, best Christmas party ever. The food was so good, the room was beautiful and the creativity worked perfectly. I’ve sent the Plateful shop website link round and we will definitely spread the word about how brilliant both your organisations are. Thank you, again, for giving us a really special evening”
Anood Al-Samerai, CEO, Community Southwark
Looking Ahead….
The year is starting in full swing, with us running the Warm Space at Blackfriars settlement. Starting from the 7th of January and continuing each Wednesday, we will be preparing soups from all around the world for sixty people.
Jumping to February, our next dinner at Hilly Fields Café will be on 14th of the month to celebrate Valentine’s day. This will feature a Sudanese themed three course menu, with tickets going on sale soon!
These are just snippets into the events Plateful holds, so be sure to regularly check both our Instagram and website to avoid missing out on any exciting updates.
Once again, Happy New Year from us at Plateful! If you thought that 2025 was a brilliant year (which it of course was), just wait to see what we have in store for 2026…
