Refugee families staying at a hotel are given “a sense of belonging” through a kitchen that teaches new cooking skills.

Watford-based charity Food For All aims to help 500 refugees with its new initiative The Café Bakery.

The bakery in central London is based just 10 minutes away from the hotel, in the City of London, where hundreds of Ukrainian refugees who are isolated and tired.

It is hoped that the initiative can be an outlet for refugees to learn new skills, reduce isolation and create a community.

Watford Observer: Recruits at The Cafe Bakery are given access to the kitchen to learn vital skillsRecruits at The Cafe Bakery are given access to the kitchen to learn vital skills

Recruits are taught how to cook and bake in large quantities and some of the food will be delivered to others in need.

Volunteers can also work on other partnership projects to give back to London communities while learning new skills.

Once they are up and running, the charity will step back and give the refugees freedom to run the project.

Food For All ambassador Jennie Matthias said: “There’s 500 people just sitting around with nothing to do, they have little engagement with the outside world, they can’t get work and so feel stuck and isolated.

“The Café Bakery is the perfect opportunity for them to learn to cook for themselves, so they no longer have to rely on food handouts.”

Watford Observer: The Cafe BakeryThe Cafe Bakery

Anna, a Ukrainian mother of three who crossed the border into Poland, is one of the volunteers working at the kitchen to serve meals to other refugees.

When they arrived in the UK, they found shelter in a tiny one-bedroom flat in Birmingham with just one single bed and no blankets.

She later was given accommodation in London, but Anna allegedly faced harassment and abuse from the owner, who is said to have taken advantage of the situation.

Now the 44-year-old has temporary accommodation thanks to the help of Food For All and she is getting the support needed to look to the future.

Before fleeing Ukraine, the mother ran a handmade chocolate business, and the charity is helping her start up a chocolate-making enterprise in the UK.

To donate to Food For All’s Ukraine fundraiser, visit: www.foodforallukraine.com