Synergi Grantee Blog Series – Mr. Boy Cookery School
In January 2023, we launched our first grants programme, welcoming applications from groups led by and for Black and People of Colour with lived experience of mental ill health, distress and/or trauma (which you can learn more about here).
This blog is part of our series on Synergi Grantees, in which I interview groups Synergi has funded about their work. I spoke with Kazem to reflect on his journey setting up and running Mr. Boy Cookery School. You can read the first 2 blogs of the series here: The Ad’iyah Collective; York Anti Racist Collective
Setting up Mr. Boy Cookery School
Mr. Boy Cookery School provides cultural cooking classes for people seeking asylum and with refugee status in Liverpool. Kazem, the founder, is a chef with an extensive background working in the food industry. When he came to the UK and started working in restaurants, he experienced a lot of racism and discrimination. This was especially apparent during the pandemic, when he was refused furlough and fired. This did not only cause distress for financial reasons but also because, for Kazem, working with food and cooking are essential to his life and wellbeing. ‘I love working around food. I need it for my mental health.’
Through his own personal experiences and his role as a volunteer with Asylum Link, Kazem was acutely aware that other people with lived experience of displacement were also struggling. In response to this, he wanted to share his skills and love for food and cooking to bring people together.
‘I have the experience of being a refugee and being displaced, and I know that food can change people’s lives.’
He decided to set up Mr. Boy Cookery School as a registered Community Interest Company (C.I.C.), teaching free cookery classes for people with lived experience of displacement and seeking asylum. Many of us know the inaccessible and time-consuming nature of these registration processes which, with English not being his first language, was heightened for Kazem. Fortunately, his wife was able to support him with the process.
The impact
Initially, Kazem taught recipes from his own country of origin of Iran, however, overtime the classes started to include recipes from attendees’ cultures as well. ‘People are missing food from their home countries, and they don’t have the money or facilities to cook this food. Food can make you excited and hopeful about life. Food is such a simple, normal part of life but people do not have access to it. I encourage people to bring recipes from their home countries. Some people come and they will videocall with their mum who tells how to cook it.’
‘People are missing food from their home countries, and they don’t have the money or facilities to cook this food.
Food can make you excited and hopeful about life. ‘
The group go on outings to the big local multicultural supermarket together, as people don’t always know where to go shopping to buy ingredients from their home countries. Classes have taught attendees about budgeting, batch cooking healthy food to reduce costs and using kitchen equipment safely.
Members of the group have also developed skills to support their employment. Some go on to gain experience in the kitchen volunteering at Asylum link and Kazem has connected people to organisations through which they have obtained food hygiene certificates. From this, members have then gone on to find employment in cafes and restaurants.
As well as learning new skills, Mr. Boy Cookery School has become a space of friendship and community, and Kazem has been able to step back and allow these relationships to flourish.
‘People are isolated, and I understand how they feel. I see food as a tree with branches – ‘mental health’, ‘community’, ‘connection’… Some people I knew hadn’t left their home for 2 years until they came to my class. Now they have built friendships from the classes. They are closer friends with each other than they are with me now. They are not calling me, they call each other. Some of them go running or hiking together.’ Attendees have also had parties together where they make dishes they learnt from the classes. ‘When I go, I see that the majority of people there are from the cooking classes.’
Kazem spoke of the isolation he experienced when he came to this country, and how healing Mr. Boy Cookery School has been for him.
‘Now it is really great. I don’t want to be famous, but I like to stand back in the corner and look after my community. That is why I set up this company. I was able to help people feel really good again. I pay for their bus pass, they can make nice food and learn about different foods, they can meet each other, we cook together, we eat together and then at the end they can take food to the hotels and Asylum Link to share with their friends and family. Lots of people have sent me messages to say thank you.’
A lot of the attendees and people at Asylum Link have struggled to talk about their mental health or find support. Kazem said ‘I am not a therapist but it’s good that we can talk about our mental health with each other. It’s nice for people to feel safe in this way.’ Kazem was also able to get the therapist he was seeing to come to Asylum Link and talk with people for free.
Another important part of the cookery classes is that they have created a space where people can share resources with one another such as information about their rights or where they can attend English classes. The discrimination Kazem had experienced had a huge impact on his mental health. ‘I didn’t know my rights in this country as a human.’ However, through the class, he has shared information he has learnt about Trade Unions and other members have joined them as well. ‘People can find translators and learn more about their rights in the workplace.’ He was also able to introduce attendees to a business advisor. ‘Some people are really talented, but English is not their first language so setting up a business can be really difficult. Another member of the group is now setting up their own C.I.C. teaching people how to ride and fix bikes.’
‘Some people are really talented, but English is not their first language so setting up a business can be really difficult.
Kazem did acknowledge some of the conflict that can come up in community spaces, and how, despite our best intentions, they are not inherently free from racism and prejudice. Mr. Boy Cookery has a firm stance around this. ‘This is a totally anti-fascist class. It is a space to share and be together. We are all equal and we are all displaced. I don’t like the name ‘refugee’, but we are.’
When speaking about the impact of the Synergi grant, Kazem said ‘It has really helped people’s mental health. Even though £3000 is not a lot of money it has been able to help over 50 people. Their lives have been changed. So many people are happy and have learnt new things that they can share more widely.’ He explained how, as a small C.I.C., it has been difficult to get funding. At Synergi, we welcome funding applications from smaller organizations with little to no funding, including those who are unregistered, as we know that these groups experience significant barriers when it comes to accessing funds and resources.
Although Kazem gets so much joy from running the cookery classes, he also acknowledged that this is hard work and teaching is difficult. However, Mr. Boy Cookery School has become so much more than the classes. After losing his dad, Kazem planted a tree in the park in his memory. He invited other members of the group to come to the tree and water it to remember their loved ones who have passed away. This story of collective grieving beautifully signifies the community that has been built.
‘I think it’s like planting a tree. It’s growing. Everyone is adding water, not just me. Together we are building this community, it can’t be done by one person. We learn from each other and each other’s cultures.’
For the future, Kazem hopes to start up a community café and food trailer where he can train and employ members of the community and they can work in a safe environment. Kazem plans to put the profits back into the Mr. Boy Cookery community to create more accessible spaces of mental health care for people with lived experience of displacement and immigration systems.
