To celebrate the upcoming opening of West Ham United Foundation’s newly renovated hub, The Foundry, located in Beckton, and its community kitchen space, men’s first-team players Niclas Füllkrug and Vladímir Coufal joined Foundation participants at Beyond Food to cook up traditional east London matchday meals.
The E6 Kitchen is supported by Kitchen Sponsor and lifelong West Ham United fan, Anne Graham, alongside her partner and fellow supporter, Stephen Scobie. In partnership with Beyond Food Foundation, the initiative will provide young people with free, nutritious meals and opportunities that extend far beyond the plate. Through the power of food and football, the partnership will aim to create new opportunities for young people disconnected from mainstream education and employment.
“It combines my love of West Ham and my love of food,” Graham explained. “But more importantly, it’s an opportunity for people, maybe those who’ve come through the care system, experienced homelessness or unemployment, to work with food, find something they enjoy, and maybe even build a career from it.”
For Graham, this project is about giving people chances they might not otherwise get, all under the umbrella of a Club deeply rooted in its local community: “West Ham came out of a factory. It’s a community, a family Club.”
The E6 Kitchen will be run by Beyond Food Foundation, a long-standing charity that has supported over 3,000 individuals through the power of cooking and provided over 290,000 vulnerable people with free meals. Founder and CEO Simon Boyle describes food as the ‘ultimate vehicle for change’, a way to bring people together and inspire better futures.
“Put a plate in the middle of the table and suddenly people are talking, connecting,” said Boyle. “The kitchen breaks down hierarchy. Everyone gets stuck in. It’s where real transformation begins.”
That transformation is already underway for young people like Cameron, a graduate of the Beyond Food programme and a huge West Ham fan. “I was going down the wrong path at school,” he admitted. “I had nothing to look forward to. Then I came here for work experience and found something I love.”
Cameron now dreams of becoming a professional chef and relished the opportunity to cook alongside Füllkrug and Coufal as part of a celebration of the new partnership.
“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” he smiled. “It just clicked in the kitchen. The players were so down to earth and I thoroughly enjoyed teaming up with them in the kitchen.”
For Joseph Lyons, CEO of the West Ham United Foundation, the E6 Kitchen is just one part of the Beckton hub jigsaw and a vital part of a much bigger picture.
“The Foundry is a place where opportunity begins,” he said. “And at the centre of the hub is the kitchen. It’s where young people feel safe, supported, and inspired to build a better future.”
Profits from every purchase – from meals to teas and coffees – will be reinvested to feed those attending Foundation programmes who are at risk of going without. More broadly, the E6 Kitchen is expected to provide employability pathways and evening meals for thousands of participants each year.
As Simon puts it: “Young people are our future. Not everyone wants to be a footballer, not everyone wants to be a chef. But this partnership shows what’s possible when you combine passions and give people the right tools to find their path.”
