Open Kitchen MCR CIC x The Seashell Trust: Catering with Purpose for pro-manchester Member Events

Open Kitchen MCR CIC has partnered with The Seashell Trust to offer pro-manchester members a meaningful way to cater their morning events while creating social impact.

Through this partnership, organisations booking catering for pro-manchester member events can choose Open Kitchen as their catering provider. The full catering fee will then be donated to Seashell through Open Kitchen’s Menu for Change initiative.

This gives businesses the opportunity to make a sustainable and ethical catering choice while directly supporting children and young adults at Seashell. Donations help fund specialist education, care, life skills development, and opportunities that empower young people with complex disabilities and additional needs.

How it works

The hosting company contacts Open Kitchen’s bookings team, who manage the entire process — from catering delivery through to donation administration.

At the end of each month, Open Kitchen and Seashell will provide pro-manchester members with a short impact update, including:

• The number of events delivered
• Total funds raised
• The measurable impact created through the partnership
• Updates from the Seashell Trust showing how support is benefiting the children and young people they work with

Funds raised through catering bookings will be transferred to Seashell at the end of each month.

The measurable impact created – Short monthly updates sent out from the Seashell trust highlighting how support for Seashell directly benefits the children and young people they work with.

Funds will be transferred at the end of each month.

By opting into this initiative, members will be helping to fuel life-changing impact. In 2024/25, more than 8,000 people benefited from Seashell’s services and facilities, including:

• Specialist education and care for 131 children and young adults with some of the most complex disabilities in the country
• 45% of college leavers progressing into meaningful employment
• Inclusive sports, activities and facilities accessed by over 2,600 community members
• Information, advice and training delivered to 250 organisations to help them become more inclusive
• Training and consultation for more than 400 professionals

Seashell Trust is a charity in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, England, for children, young people and adults with sensory impairment, profound and multiple learning difficulties, and profound communication difficulties.

Open Kitchen CIC is a not-for-profit social enterprise based in Manchester that tackles food waste and food poverty. They intercept surplus food that would otherwise go to waste and transform it into high-quality catering. Through their work, they create employment, training and volunteering opportunities, support people facing hardship, and are committed to delivering 156 cooking lessons in schools in 2026. They are also working towards becoming net zero by 2040.

When companies choose Open Kitchen, sustainability meets social impact. This collaboration makes it easier than ever for pro-manchester members to deliver meaningful social value while creating real opportunities for Seashell’s children and young adults.

If you would be interested please contact David Amesbury [email protected] for more details.