LONDON 14 Dec (Online): Baker Maisie Collins has opened up her industrial oven in east London for locals to use, drawing on the medieval tradition of communal bakehouses to help people at a time when many are struggling to pay their bills.<\/p>\n
For some of Britain’s poorest, the combination of soaring prices for gas and electricity, plus the rising cost of food, means switching on the oven has become a luxury this winter.<\/p>\n
“At the moment some people can’t afford to switch on their ovens at all and they’re having to choose between heating and eating, which is just ludicrous,” Collins, 31, said.<\/p>\n
Her solution is The People’s Oven, a monthly event where locals can come to the bakery she set up six months ago in a former warehouse near a canal in Hackney.<\/p>\n
In an area where artists and design studios in old industrial buildings rub shoulders with newly-built apartment blocks, the bakery, Hearth, has a hipster vibe.<\/p>\n
Vegan chocolate brownies made with pea flour are a best seller, and the shelves are crowded with bottles and jars with handwritten labels for trendy ingredients such as elderflower vinegar, dried fig leaves and chai sugar.<\/p>\n
But just up the road are some of Britain’s most deprived neighbourhoods and Hearth is a social enterprise, meaning a proportion of its profits will be channelled into community projects.<\/p>\n
By promoting her open oven event with local food banks, Collins hopes those in need of cooking facilities, friendship and a warm space will breathe new life into the ancient idea of the medieval hearth at the centre of the village.<\/p>\n
Annie Ren, 22, who has just moved to the area, was taught how to bake bread by Collins.<\/p>\n
“I came here for like the experience, also to make friends and kind of seek out a community in east London,” Ren said.<\/p>\n
Andrea Moro, 33, had brought pizza dough and toppings to share with the other visitors.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s a very interesting thing to do for many, many reasons,” he said. “For sure to help people to save some money, but also to create a sort of community in the area.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON 14 Dec (Online): Baker Maisie Collins has opened up her industrial oven in east London for locals to use, drawing on the medieval tradition of communal bakehouses to help people at a time when many are struggling to pay their bills. For some of […]<\/p>\n
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