The Red Door Community Kitchen returned to Muswellbrook on Thursday, October 21 after more than 10 weeks of closure due to COVID lockdowns.
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Operating from the Uniting Church on Bridge Street in Muswellbrook, the Red Door Community Kitchen has opened weekly on Thursdays since 2014, providing a warm meal and a cup of coffee to all members of the community in need.
Brian Collard, the Vice President of the Red Door community group, said he was pleased with the turnout after being unable to operate since August 5.
"We've had about 40 people so far today which has been great," Mr Collard said.
"We used to get around 60-70 people prior to the lockdowns so it's great that so many have been able to return now that we've reopened."
Nancy Hopkins, a regular attendee of Red Door's lunches, was pleased to enjoy a hot meal alongside other members of the community after an extended absence due to COVID.
"It's lovely to be back here and it's nice to be able to see everybody again," Ms Hopkins said.
Mr Collard said while the volunteers were incredibly grateful to see the community meal return, the stringent COVID measures in place had meant the usual social aspect of Red Door had not fully returned.
"At the moment because of the strict COVID safe measures in place our volunteers and visitors haven't been able to be as social today as we would usually be, but we feel very blessed to be able to reopen," Mr Collard said.
"By December we should see some of those restrictions eased and we're looking forward to welcoming more members of the Muswellbrook community back to Red Door."
The Red Door Community Kitchen was established in 2013 to arrange funding to refurbish and equip the kitchen at the Uniting Church on Bridge Street and to host a Christmas Day lunch for disadvantaged members of the Muswellbrook community.
The Red Door kitchen officially opened its doors on a weekly basis in March, 2014 and continues to provide a warm meal and an even warmer welcome for every member of Muswellbrook and surrounding areas on Thursdays from 12pm to 2pm .