Lunch Club

Building a community far from home.

Lunch Club is Appetite’s group for Asylum seekers and Refugees who are living in our area. They may be part of a Resettlement programme or have lived experience of migration and are now living in Stoke-on-Trent or Newcastle-under-Lyme (either temporarily or permanently).

The group come together through shared art and cultural experiences as a way to connect and build community. A wide range of workshops with artists have been delivered, and trips to see exhibitions, festivals and events, in the local area or further afield. As the name suggests lunch, or food, is nearly always a key element to a session.

Members have voiced an interest in learning more about Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme and a desire to feel more connected to their new home here. Lunch Club’s activities have supported this through a range of activities, event, trips and by having a say in our programme.

A close-up image from behind of an adult holding a clay sculpture in an open right hand. The left hand has a silver bracelet around the wrist and is pinching the clay.
A group of women in headscarfs stand around a table with large cooking bowls in front of them. There is a woman at the end of the table giving instructions and large glass windows in the background.
A woman with her dark hair tied back photographed from the side holds a smartphone up high ready to take a photograph and is about to press the shutter. It is a gallery space, with artwork in the background.

Filling a gap

Lunch Club was created to fill a gap, providing additional opportunities for socialising, food, engagement in the arts with artists, engagement in the life of our area and community decision-making of our programme and with others.

It came about following the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022 and inspired by Appetite’s work with Burslem Jubilee Project. It was shaped together with Ayad Al-Ani, a community decision-maker, who has lived experience and is bilingual, creating a safe space for participants through shared understanding, and who is funded by Appetite to be the co-ordinator.

Lunch Club originally met at Newcastle Common, Appetite’s project to show how underused spaces in the town centre could be animated. Since Newcastle Common closed in October 2024 Lunch Club has adapted to be hosted in other spaces and visit activity in other places.

2 Asian women are smiling while painting glaze colours one ceramic in a studio space. There are 2 tubs of ceramic glaze on the table in front of them.
A woman in a headscarf sips a drink from a tea cup in a beautiful indoor cafe. There is a ceramic tea set on the table in front of them.
2 Asian men are smiling while painting glaze colours on to ceramic. They sit at a table in a studio.

The future for Lunch Club

From October to December 2024 Appetite received funding from the New Communities Resettlement Fund, to run Lunch Club.

In autumn 2025 Appetite are looking for support and funding to continue our Lunch Club and look ahead to enabling it to become sustainable. As such we are currently not able to have new members join the group.

Photos on this page: Lunch Club visit Wedgwood, do creative clay activities, sharpen their cooking skills at Feasted, and go on a takeaway to Nottingham.