Athens Greece: Impact Hub Community Programme
On my recent trip to Athens I was introduced to Impact Hub based in the Municipal Market of Kipseli.
In the 1990s quite a few of the supermarkets and market halls closed down in this area. An EU (European Union) grant enabled the old market building to be renovated and used for the Impact Hub.
The Athenian suburb of Kipseli is made up of around 60% of migrants. The Impact Hub offers a safe place for people especially women to get together, cook together, meet with friends and a place for children to come after school. The Hub offers lessons in the Greek language as well as computers, singing and music lessons.
One Sunday a month there is a ‘Pop-up Brunch’ with different local restaurants each time.
The Hub is made up of a large open central space with small units lining the two sides.
Each of these units are occupied by an organisation who use the profits from their sales to put back into the community they support. Flower Power sells bouquets of flowers and supports projects for people with autism.
13m2 Gallery supports a mental health initiative.
Ken (pronounced Kep) is a Citizens Advice Bureau offering advice and support to any of the local people who need it such as helping to fill out forms that are in Greek and all matters that may be difficult for the resident to deal with as their native language is not necessarily Greek.
Wise Greece sells locally produced products like honey, olives, herbs, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt to name just a few. The shop provides a way for these small producers to get their products to market. The profits from the sales of these products is used to purchase from the producers and used to run a soup kitchen for the needy. A real circle of support!!
While we sat and chatted we met a woman originally from The Sudan. She said she would love to cook with me when I come again!
I am going to try to get back to Athens in the Spring next year to take part in a cooking session with local women. We will all get together, prepare, cook chat and eat together! What an honour this will be to spend this quality time and precious time with these women. Women are at the heart of feeding the family and what better way to break down barriers!! I will keep you informed about the progress and hopefully you will support it. Or why not come along and join in the fun!
If you want to read more about my first trip to the exciting city of Athens click on the link below:-
Athens Greece: Vougliameni Lake
Athens Greece: Riding on the Athens Metro
Athens Greece: Celebrating Ochi (“No”) Day
It looks wonderful there Heidi. I haven’t been to Greece, only Greek Cyprus, but I did like it there.
It has been a dream for many years to visit Greece and particularly Athens. I can’t wait to go back again and cook with the lovely ladies!
What an absolutely amazing project this Impact Hub sounds, I love the concept of supporting local community members, especially in welcoming those who need extra support, and I love the idea that the businesses within are each also supporting the community as well.
Come with me in March too cook with these lovely ladies!!
Athens is a beautiful city .. visited 3 years ago.. how I wish I had more time to explore the city .
I need to visit Athens again soon – there is so much more to do in this fantastic city!
What a fantastic space – we could learn a lot from that, I’m sure my corner of London could set up something similar! It would be a great addition to our community.
It was such a special and peaceful place with so much potential. Would love to see more communities adopt this
I had such a brief trip to Athens 10 years ago, wish I’d had time to explore properly, sounds like a great programme to support the community
I love community projects and happy I might be able to make a difference on this one!
I love reading about your travels as you always manage to talk about interesting topics. This visit to Greece sounds amazing.
Thanks for your kind words. I love sharing my travels with readers!
What a wonderful community initiative! There should be more projects like this.
With the amount of migrants we really need more safe places for them to come and learn and just relax with their children.
It sounds like you had a really inspirational trip and such a great project too! I would love to go to Greece one day.
I have always wanted to go to Greece and was lucky to go twice in 2018. More visits to come I hope!
What a lovely looking area. Anywhere with a pop up brunch is worth a visit in my book!
It was such a welcoming and bright space in a great neighbourhood too!
This looks like such a worthwhile project, Heidi! Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
I really hope to set up some sort of cooking-sharing session for the Spring!