Pulse & Pickle  - Gather, Create, Dream Together

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A Radical Space

Acts of food and care

Artistic takeover

The Lost Art Of Eating Together

Hosting a community art workshop can be an enriching experience for both organizers and participants. Start by identifying a theme or focus that resonates with your local community, such as sustainable art practices or exploring cultural heritage through creative expression. Next, gather materials that are accessible and eco-friendly, encouraging participants to reuse and recycle. Promoting your event through local networks, social media, and flyers around East London can help attract a diverse group eager to engage and create together.<h3>Creating an Inclusive and Inspiring Environment</h3>Make sure to set up your space to be welcoming and accommodating to all skill levels, providing clear instructions and support throughout the workshop. Encourage collaboration and sharing of ideas to foster a sense of community and mutual learning. Consider ending the session with a showcase where participants can display their creations, further amplifying the collective spirit of Pulse & Pickle as a radical cultural hub.

Children and an adult participating in a crafts workshop at a crowded indoor market, working with paper, tools, and art supplies, surrounded by plants.

How to Host a Community Art Workshop at Pulse & Pickle

Cultural centres like Pulse & Pickle are evolving to meet the demands of contemporary society by integrating digital technologies and sustainable practices. Many are adopting virtual reality exhibits and online workshops to reach wider audiences beyond their physical locations. Additionally, green initiatives such as zero-waste policies, locally sourced materials, and energy-efficient designs are becoming standard to reduce environmental impact and promote social responsibility within the arts community.<h3>How These Trends Shape the Future of Community Spaces</h3>By embracing these innovations, cultural hubs not only enhance accessibility and engagement but also set an example for sustainable community development. This fusion of technology and ecology helps build resilient, inclusive spaces where people can gather to eat, learn, dream, and create together, much like the mission of Pulse & Pickle in East London.

Emerging Trends in Cultural Hubs: Embracing Digital and Green Innovations

A typical day at Pulse & Pickle is a vibrant blend of preparation, collaboration, and creativity. Early mornings begin with setting up the communal kitchen, sourcing fresh ingredients from local markets to support the eatery’s commitment to community and quality. Meanwhile, the team coordinates with artists, educators, and volunteers to finalize schedules for workshops, performances, and community meetings that will unfold throughout the day.<h3>Fostering Community Connections and Creative Energy</h3>Behind the scenes, the staff at Pulse & Pickle work tirelessly to maintain an inclusive atmosphere where everyone feels welcome. From arranging spaces for intimate gatherings to troubleshooting technical setups for digital events, each effort contributes to the centre’s dynamic cultural ecosystem. This dedication ensures that Pulse & Pickle remains a thriving hub for East London’s diverse and vibrant communities.

Behind the Scenes: A Day in the Life at Pulse & Pickle

You can find all our upcoming events and book your tickets on our Humanitix page 

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://events.humanitix.com/host/pulse-and-pickle-cic">https://events.humanitix.com/host/pulse-and-pickle-cic</a>

We are a not for profit vegan restaurant, cultural centre and community hub in east London where folks can gather to eat, learn, dream, and create together.Come in for free water, herbal tea, wifi, and toilets. Our dog-friendly space on Walthamstow's High Street has a step-free, street-facing entrance for easy access.WE ARE CROWDFUNDING - <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/pulse-pickle---a-community-space-like-no-other">HELP US KEEP OUR DOORS OPEN </a>

Pulse & Pickle CIC

Events

Muslims gathered at the Baabussalam mosque, Indramayu, West Java Province to perform Eid al-Fitr prayers 2026. Eid al-Fitr prayers are carried out by Muslims after fasting in the month of Ramadhan.

Group photo of women and children in traditional attire at a festive Sasak wedding celebration in Areguling, Lombok, capturing the joy and diversity of the cultural event.

A Ukrainian rally unfolds in downtown Manhattan, where community members, NYC officials, and uniformed police gather in solidarity. A woman draped in a blue and yellow flag stands solemnly among the crowd, while a young attendee holds a folded Ukrainian flag during a formal civic ceremony. The event reflects unity, patriotism, and public support for Ukraine in the heart of New York City. Captured by Olek Buzunov @buzunov.photoart, documenting moments of resilience and civic engagement.

Bunch of friends on a cliff looking out towards the sunset by the sea.

Monday - 11am-5pmTuesday / Wednesday - CLOSEDThursday &amp; Friday - 11am-5pmSaturday - 10am-5pmSunday - 11am-5pmWe’re also open in the evenings during events or for special menu dinners.Follow us or check the events page for updates about monthly workshops, dinners and upcoming events.

A group of urban cyclists and bicycle messengers gather at the start of an alleycat race. The scene is filled with a sense of camaraderie and anticipation, as riders stand around their bikes, preparing for the unsanctioned event. The setting, with its ornate gate and surrounding trees, provides a unique backdrop for this subculture gathering. The photo captures the community, diverse gear, and underground vibe of alleycat racing.

Access to healthy, local food should be a right, not a privilege determined by geography or income.

Know your foodWe seek to awaken ourselves and our communities to the historical and current realities of how we grow, distribute, cook, eat, and recycle food, and we are committed to exploring future possibilities that challenge these realities. We believe in the critical role of food sovereignty for liberation, and aim to provide ample, accessible opportunities to feed each other often and well.Live LocalWe envision this space as a catalyst for connection and action - an intersection where communities can gather, share, and organise to address issues that matter most. We are committed to engaging with local groups and residents, not only to use this space as a venue for events, exhibitions and discussions, but also as a hub where real, actionable change can begin.Community Over ProfitWhenever possible, we choose suppliers, partners, and collaborators based locally and in the UK who share our commitment to serving and invigorating local social bonds and connections. We value and dignify people, the Earth, and social purpose when we choose how to distribute and use our time and resources.Diversity &amp; InclusionOur project aims to bring together individuals with diverse skills, experiences, and abilities to create a vibrant and inclusive space. We are committed to amplifying the voices and participation of under-represented groups within the contemporary art, culture, horticulture and food industries. In particular, we welcome those from BIPOC communities, and those who identify as LGBTQI+ and Disabled to join, contribute, and feel represented within this project.

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Errante joins Palestine Cinema Days, in solidarity with Palestine - to amplify censored Palestinian voices, and contribute to shifting the distorted narrative.This is a Film Lab Palestine‘s global initiative - on the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration - for cinemas and organisers worldwide to screen Palestinian films in support to the forcibly canceled Palestine Cinema Days Festival.Presenting When I Saw You by Annemarie Jacir: in 1967, just after the Six-Day War, young Tarek lives with his mother, Ghaydaa, in a Palestinian refugee camp, waiting for the father who never arrives. Tired of waiting, he runs away and encounters a group of freedom fighters who open his eyes to a new kind of hope. through Tarek’s journey, Jacir captures the deep ache of displacement and the quiet power of those who still dream of home — a film that turns loss into luminous resistance. Free entry. Reserve your ticket as space is limited and PLEASE cancel if you can’t make it so others can join.

Errante x Palestine Cinema Days Presenting- "When I Saw You"

Come enjoy a cabbage-themed breakfast and a recipe zine-making workshop, woven together with thought-provoking conversations about our gut brain, the migration of food, and the practices of archiving.1 event, 2 sessions -- choose either Sunday 2 Nov or Monday 3 Nov based on your availability.Hosted by SPILLLL studio, Counter Archives, and Dr. Danbee "Tauntaun" Kim.

Slow Breakfast Club

Join us to gather in community through music, connection, solidarity and hope - a short concert, opening into a jam, where all are welcome to participate.Bring your instruments, poems, stories, and friends - and pass this on to your SWANA musician friends - we’d love to meet them! 🎷🕖 Schedule🚪 6:30pm – Doors⏰ 7:00pm — Community Dinner! a wonderful feast (plant based, organic and locally sourced, delicious home foods) - made by the Pulse &amp; Pickle team for all of us, for £10 per person (optional to join!)🥁 8:00–10:30pm — Music Concert &amp; Open Jam

MAKAM SALAM

Month 4 — Language &amp; TranslationA Workshop Exploring Photography, Words, and the Spaces BetweenMigrants often live between tongues, translating for ourselves, for others, and sometimes just to survive. Language can be a home or a barrier, a bridge or a reminder of distance.In this two-day workshop, we’ll explore how language shapes belonging and how translation can become an act of creativity. Through photography and writing, participants will look at the languages surrounding us — from signs and gestures to untranslatable words that live inside.Guiding questions:Which language do you dream in?What words have no translation, yet stay with you?

Photo Walk & Writing Workshop Month 4

We’ll be having a little open mic night at the wonderful<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/pulseandpickle/"> @pulseandpickle</a> with individual and small group performances as well as the big Flotsam Orchestra :) come bring friends, family, neighbours, anyone who wants a joyous eve of world music!

Flotsam Open Mic Night & Jam

Film Screening &amp; A talk by Shahin AshkianiA screening of "Can We Do It Ourselves?" - Should we be pushing for a democratic cooperative way of doing business, showing case studies of businesses who are surviving as democracies within a capitalist system.A talk by Shahin Ashkiani - Can Cooperatives truly rival traditional capitalism? Imagine a market where the majority of workers own and run their businesses. Can this model reshape productivity, decision‑making, and management while also influencing health, democracy, and local economies?

If Worker Co-Ops Are Vital, Why Are They So Rare?

Our Featured Artists for October the 19th -Daf Zan is a collective of Iranian and Turkish women percussionists founded by Sara Fotros. Blending Kurdish, Persian, and fusion rhythms, they perform original daf compositions that celebrate unity, power, and tradition through rhythm.Hamed Asayesh is a santoor musician and teacher. He was born into an art-loving family in Iran and began playing the santoor in 1995 under the tutelage of Master Masoud Rezaeinejad. He has performed numerous concerts in England with the Avaye Del ensemble and is also the director of the Mahoor Art Academy.

Migration Vibration

An evening of South Asian playreading, reflection, and connectionThis gathering grew from quiet conversations with friends, family, and fellow creatives — moments when we realised how rare it is to find spaces where we truly feel seen, heard, and connected.No theatre experience is needed. Come as you are - listen, reflect, or step in when it feels right. A guided conversation will follow each reading, creating space for participants to share perspectives, memories, and insights.

Between Us: a South Asian playreading and social

This two-day workshop explores the many journeys migrants take, not only across borders, but also the paths we walk after arriving.It’s about navigating new systems, cultures, and ways of living. Some routes are physical like streets, stations, bus stops. Others are invisible such as learning a language, finding work, building community, or handling paperwork. Some are direct, others loop back, and some have no clear end. Every step changes us.Together, we’ll trace these journeys with our cameras and words: old train tickets, imagined maps, footsteps in familiar streets, the places where decisions were made, and the invisible lines that connect past and present. We’ll also explore personal, emotional, and spiritual journeys that shape who we are becoming.Register now by filling out the form

Photowalk and Writing workshop: Journeys & Routes

Ticket pricing:<ul><li>"At cost" - £5</li><li>Subsidized (accessible) - £3</li><li>Solidarity (extra to share) - £10</li><li>A group drumming class for queer adults. Beginners and first-timers encouraged.</li></ul>Learn more and register here:

Brazilian Beats Workshop with Ana

Create useful and beautiful items from recycled and discarded materials to promote sustainability and reduce waste.

Zero Waste Crafting Workshops

Explore music creation with hands-on sessions in recording, mixing, and producing using accessible technology and community instruments.

DIY Music Production Labs

Discuss and develop community-focused technology projects that prioritize privacy, accessibility, and social justice.

We were in one of the slums in Kathmandu. Kids, there are still deprived of access to the technology. We are there to break that barrier and give new opportunities.

@DisasterHack

Ethical Tech Meetups

Join us for creative art sessions where community members collaborate on murals, crafts, and installations to express collective stories and visions.

Community Art Jams

Learn sustainable gardening techniques and urban farming practices to grow your own food and green our neighborhood together.

Gardening & Urban Farming Workshops

Storytelling Circles

Being on the high street of Walthamstow, once the longest market street in Europe, stretching between St James and Hoe Street, means seeing thousands of people pass by every day.Many come for the affordable textile shops, charity shops, and food stalls. Yet despite the street being pedestrianised, there are very few public places to sit and rest, almost no inviting green spaces, and hardly any accessible public toilets.Over the years, the high street has been shaped by the “market forces” that cater to diverse migrant and low-paid communities, resulting in a cold, fragmented environment designed primarily for transaction, somewhere to pass through, buy what you need, and leave.This environment shapes behaviour. It becomes easier to drop litter, to urinate in corners, and to show less care for the space or for others. The street gives little sense of belonging or community, nowhere that invites people to stay, feel comfortable, or connect.By contrast, the nearby “Walthamstow Village”- designed for the newer, middle-class residents who arrived over the past two decades is full of trees, greenery, and colourful, welcoming restaurants, galleries, and boutique shops. It highlights what the high street could have been with thoughtful investment and care.Not to gentrify, but to support the existing communities, to create a space that nurtures belonging and dignity in the same way the “village” does for its newer residents.So what does it mean to be a “free space”?We draw inspiration from Sylvia Pankhurst’s East London Federation of the Suffragettes and their radical community kitchen during the First World War. For the first time, working-class people could gather to eat affordable food prepared with care, in a space that sustained both the women who ran it and the community it served.For Pankhurst, it was essential that this wasn’t “charity” or another soup kitchen. Even if people couldn’t pay, they were still welcomed and treated with dignity. At its height, 400 people ate there daily. It became a social and political hub where people recognised the injustices they faced and began to discuss rights to food, equality, and the effects of war profiteering.This spirit inspired us to open our community hub and restaurant on the more neglected part of the high street, directly opposite a large discount supermarket, where we engage daily with people who might not be familiar with vegan food or with the idea of shared, free, and safe community spaces.In practice, this means that 25-40 people, mostly elderly or vulnerable but not only, sit at our outdoor tables each day. Some rest, some wait for someone, and others simply watch the world go by. When we approach with water or a greeting, their first instinct is often to apologise for taking up space, or ask what they need to buy.When we explain that they’re welcome to sit without ordering, their faces soften. Many later return, often buying a tea or coffee in solidarity.The same is true for our toilets. In an area with almost no public facilities, we see 20-30 people a day asking to use them. Most are surprised we say yes without requiring a purchase.Some leave a small tip, others stay for a chat. Many come back. Our gender-neutral toilets also provide free sanitary pads for anyone who needs them.Street cleaners and delivery couriers now know us as a safe space. They come in for a cup of herbal tea or water, to rest, or to use the toilet. Over time, we’ve built genuine relationships, they tell us what’s happening on the street, and we share stories and support.We’re also in daily contact with neighbouring independent shops, sharing challenges and coordinating efforts to make the high street more sustainable.Inside, our space hosts around twenty local groups who use it as a safe meeting place, and we run a busy monthly programme of free talks, workshops, exhibitions, film screenings, music events, and communal dinners.Our approach differs from other “free spaces” in London. Like the suffragettes’ model, we aim to build a place grounded in solidarity and care, not charity or unpaid labour. We are a not-for-profit, but we pay ourselves a minimum of £14 an hour and source our produce from local organic farms.This makes our costs higher, but we see it as the only sustainable path forward. We want farmers to live with dignity, and we want artists, musicians, and facilitators to feel valued for their time and skills. Every collaboration, whether through shared income or shared meals, is based on respect and mutual care.We keep our prices as affordable as possible while serving slow, organic vegan food made with thought and integrity. The same principle guides our events: we use sliding scales and balance costs carefully, ensuring they remain accessible and inclusive.Our belief in the need for a “free space” that isn’t based on charity is tested daily. Can we sustain it in the current economic climate? We don’t know. But we keep trying, because creating such a space feels like the most vital act of hope we can offer.

What does it mean to be a "Free Space"

Our Friday night communal dining events are built around shared tables, where the focus is as much on the people as on the food itself. We put great care into preparing seasonal vegan meals made from organic ingredients sourced from local growers, but the real heart of each evening lies in the people who gather to share time together.Each dinner is arranged in a shared space that encourages conversation and exchange, offering guests a chance to slow down and explore something together beyond the everyday rhythm of consumption. Every event carries its own theme and menu, accompanied by a performance, a talk, or a conversation with artists and thinkers we’ve invited to share the evening with us.We also recognise that financial realities shape who can take part in such gatherings. To make our dinners accessible, we offer a Solidarity Sliding Scale: tickets range from £15 for those who need support, £25 at cost, and £30 or more for those able to contribute in solidarity.&nbsp;This approach allows people with different resources to sit at the same table and support one another’s participation. The income from each dinner goes directly toward paying fair wages to our team, supporting the artists and hosts who shape the events, and paying the local growers whose produce makes our food possible.&nbsp;In this way, each dinner becomes part of a small, sustaining circle of care. An experiment in how shared meals might help us reimagine value, generosity, and the simple act of sitting together.

Acts of food and care - Reclaiming the dining table 

<h4>Over a three-week open studio residency, Yuling Huang will develop a collaborative, site-specific installation at P&amp;P. Working daily on site, she will engage with the community through conversations and workshops, gradually creating a fabric print that reflects the space’s social and material rhythms.</h4>During this time Yulin will deliver two full day workshops and a talk.&nbsp;<h3>“Do it Together: Art, Community, and Cooperative Imagination”</h3>Date: 29th November Sat. 2pm-5pmJoin us for a unique, free event and the chance to collectively explore Asian Printmaking as a Mode of Activism, considering its historical and political context.Our amazing Artist in residence Yuling Huang and guest artist Nata will explore the political woodcut movements of mid-20th century Asia, where artists utilized printmaking as a rapid, low-cost, and mass-reproducible medium for movements centered on anti-war efforts, human rights, and migrant issues.These prints were more than art; they served as street posters, flyers, and educational tools, embodying the urgency and collective consensus required for social change.Survival issues are structural, and creating dialogue allows us to understand each other's situations and provides opportunities to build transnational solidarity.The spirit of collective creation and reproducibility inherent in woodcut printmaking remains highly relevant to discussions surrounding several key issues,for example:Community Space, Housing Crisis, Migrant Rights, Diverse Identity.2:00-2:40pm The talk will be led by both Yuling and guest artist Nata. They will share Printmaking as a tool to explore from historical echoes to contemporary action and introducing examples of past works.3:00-5:00pm After the talk, audiences are encouraged to stay and try out woodcut printmaking. Suggested donation of £5 to cover the materials (including wood block, cutting knives, printing paper and ink).Participants in the 2 workshops will use woodcut printmaking as a tool for storytelling and culture. Due to the hands-on nature of the workshop, we’re able to accommodate up to 15 participants per session.Participants are encouraged to buy tickets for both workshop sessions. The two sessions are connected conceptually and visually:Workshop Dates: Friday &amp; Saturday December 5th &amp; December 6⚑Workshop - “Carving Diversity: focuses on self, migration, identity, and cultural exchange” Date: 5th December Fri. 12pm-4pm. Lunch provided by Pulse &amp; PickleIn our first session, Carving Diversity, we invite participants to explore the multifaceted dimensions of identity. This "identity symbol" can stem from your cultural background, migration experience, or serve as a proud expression of your belonging.12:00–13:00 Welcome Lunch &amp; Concept Sketching13:00-14:45 Woodcut Printmaking skill sharing &amp; Carving&nbsp;14:45-15:30 Printing Session15:30-16:00 Sharing⚑ Workshop“Food from Home: explores food and culture as shared memory and belonging.” Date: 6th December Sat. 12pm-4pm. Lunch provided by Pulse &amp; PickleThis session centers on food, exploring how it serves as the silent language of memory, belonging, and cultural identity. Participants will design a circular format inspired by a plate, bowl, or dining setting, and use this template to carve a dish, fruit, or ingredient that holds significant personal meaning. Through the processes of carving and printing, each artwork becomes both a visual recipe and a deep reflection of cultural identity.12:00–13:00 Welcome Lunch &amp; Concept Sketching13:00-14:45 Woodcut Printmaking skill sharing &amp; Carving&nbsp;14:45-15:30 Printing Session15:30-16:00 Sharing*We have three free spots available for participants facing financial difficulty, granting full access to the workshops at no cost.Please contact us via email if you are interested in a free spot: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="mailto:contact@pulseandpickle.org">contact@pulseandpickle.org</a>*The introductory talk (Session 1) is free of charge, but please note that advanced booking is essential for the practical workshops (Sessions 2 &amp; 3).Overall ConceptTogether, the two sessions form a dialogue between identity and nourishment - how we see ourselves, and how we sustain and share those identities with others.The final prints from both sessions will be combined and printed onto one large un-primed cotton canvas, forming a collective artwork, which would be exhibited at P&amp;P.Yuling Huang is a visual artist and researcher from Taipei. Her practice bridges community-based art, printmaking, and socially engaged research, often exploring how urban transformation, migration, and collective memory shape identity.She has led participatory art and media projects with institutions such as New Taipei Fine Arts Museum, C-Lab, and international platforms like the Platform Cooperativism Consortium (New School, NYC).Through her printmaking collective Print and Carve Dept., she co-create workshops that bring together art, activism, and cooperative values -emphasizing collective imagination and shared authorship.More about her works and past collaborations can be found at :<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://yulinghuang.com"> yulinghuang.com</a>Print and Carve Dept.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://hackmd.io/@pacd/intro">https://hackmd.io/@pacd/intro</a>

P&P Artist In Residence - Yuling Huang 

The simple act of sitting down to eat together remains one of the most powerful ways to nurture wellbeing.Across countless studies, shared meals are linked to stronger relationships, improved mental health, and a deeper sense of belonging. When we eat with others, we slow down. We listen, exchange, and connect. The meal becomes a shared rhythm that restores something essential in a fragmented world.In the UK, loneliness has quietly become an epidemic, shaped by housing precarity, disconnection from neighbours, and the erosion of communal life.Yet research consistently shows that organised gatherings around food, neighbourhood suppers, shared lunches, community dinners, can strengthen social trust, boost happiness, and even improve physical health.Eating with others offers a protective effect, fostering purpose and identity, while the disappearance of such spaces leaves many feeling adrift.A shared table does more than provide nourishment. It creates common ground. Across differences of age, income, or background, dining together allows people to encounter one another not as service users, strangers, or statistics, but as equals. Food becomes the medium through which empathy is restored and community reimagined.A Forgotten Legacy of Communal DiningThe UK once understood the power of collective eating. During the First World War, Sylvia Pankhurst and the East London Federation of Suffragettes opened "Cost Price Restaurants", “radical spaces” where anyone could access a hot, nutritious meal without stigma or profit. Supported by local growers and volunteers, these kitchens embodied community self-organisation and solidarity at a time of crisis.Pankhurst’s model was later echoed in the state-sponsored National Kitchens and British Restaurants, vast networks of communal dining halls established during both world wars. These were not charitable canteens, but public spaces where people ate side by side at long tables adorned with tablecloths, flowers, and sometimes music. For many working-class families, this was their first experience of dining out. A moment of dignity and conviviality in the midst of scarcity.By 1941, more than two thousand such restaurants served hundreds of thousands of people daily. They offered affordable meals, community, and warmth at a time when private kitchens were often cold or damaged by bombing. Crucially, they reframed food access as a collective right rather than an act of pity.Yet once austerity lifted, the communal table began to vanish. The post-war years brought supermarkets, fast-food chains, and an ideology of individual consumption. Eating became increasingly private, hurried, and commodified. The idea that a public meal could embody equality and care faded from memory.The Act of Eating TogetherAcross cultures and throughout history, eating together, what scholars call 'commensality" - has been one of the oldest and most enduring forms of human connection. To share a meal is to share time, space, and story. UNESCO describes this act as “the foundation of the cultural identity and continuity of communities,” noting how the Mediterranean tradition of gathering around the table embodies hospitality, neighbourliness, and respect for diversity.Beyond the practical benefits, communal dining nourishes more than the body. Research consistently shows that eating with others improves wellbeing, reduces loneliness, and strengthens community ties.The simple gesture of sharing food transforms the meal into a space of exchange and belonging, one where the rhythms of conversation, laughter, and attention knit people together in ways that few other activities can.Eating together also helps bridge cultural and social divides. Studies show that sharing food fosters equality and trust across class, race, and gender lines. A kind of social lubricant that softens boundaries and allows empathy to take root.To eat side by side is to recognise one another’s humanity; it’s an act that resists the forces of isolation, consumption, and division that so often shape modern life.Modern nutrition science is beginning to echo what culture has long known: health is not only what we eat, but how we eat, and with whom.Conviviality, the pleasure of eating together, is increasingly recognised as a public health principle in its own right. When people share food, they tend to eat more balanced meals, feel less lonely, and cultivate habits that nourish both body and mind.Reclaiming the Table“Acts of food and care” seeks to revive this long-neglected tradition in a contemporary way, through a series of locally grown, tasty, organic, seasonal communal dinners that celebrate the act of gathering. Each meal becomes a site of connection, creativity, and care: a place where local food, conversation, and culture intertwine.These events will not only nourish the community but also reassert that eating together is a public good - a quiet yet radical gesture against isolation, inequality, racism, and the commodification of daily life.At a time when many are struggling to afford good food or to find a place where they feel they belong, returning to the communal table may be one of the simplest and most transformative things we can do.Order your tickets for our communal dinners on our <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://pulseandpickle.org/upcoming-events">Events page</a>For Further Reading -<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/crsw/5/3/article-p369.xml">Sylvia Pankhurst</a>: Suffragette, Socialist, Anti-imperialist … and Social Worker?</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/feeding-the-people-in-wartime-britain-9781350259713/">Feeding the People </a>in Wartime Britain</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027153172400040X">Fostering wellbeing</a> and healthy lifestyles through conviviality and commensality</li></ul>

A reflection on the lost art of eating together, and why we need it back

April 2026 events

Echoes of Gathered Voices - the very first exhibition from the creative writing group at Branches - a charity that provides temporary accommodation and resettlement support in Waltham Forest.The exhibition will be on display from 23rd April - 8th May at Pulse and Pickle, Walthamstow High Street.Over the past year we have held creative writing workshops at Branches with current and former residents. Come along to read some of the brilliant work we have created and explore our imaginary worlds.A collection of personal stories, imaginative work and inspirational influences, with writing that is both introspective and uplifting.The writing encourages you to embrace the unknown, slow down, reflect on your life and look within yourself for answers.Opening Event Thursday 23rd April, 6 - 8pm (FREE)Join us to celebrate the opening of the exhibition and hear some of the writers read their work. Explore the exhibition together and connect with the creative community."Life is a rhythm and the heartbeat is the first sound" – Leon "What life-dream remains under lock and key" - Benjamin Kuti “When twilight falls, shadows creep through the curtains” - Coral “I dream between the plants. Weightless skin on starlight.” - Leklan

Echoes of Gathered Voices

Some News, thoughts &amp; random words

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