Our Open Arms Cookbook is here

This vibrant celebration of culture, connection, and the healing power of food has been created by unaccompanied young people from asylum-seeking and refugee backgrounds who have arrived in Thanet alone.

Featuring over 31 culinary inspirations, with stories and photos, the book is more than a collection of recipes. Every delicious dish tells a story of memory and belonging. Through its pages, readers will taste the incredible community spirit created at this social club, dedicated to supporting these brave 13- to 21-year-olds as they arrive and settle in East Kent. It’s a joyful invitation to explore new flavours, share stories, and simply have a go.

The Open Arms Cookbook celebrates the rich cultures and new connections and sense of home that can come through sharing a meal together. It offers a slice of hope.

Cooking Ghormeh Sabzi, an Iranian herb stew, brings up happy memories of home for Ali*. They’ve been coming to Open Arms since they arrived in the UK alone at the age of 12. Whenever they cook during sessions, they will request this dish, because it reminds them of the times when they ate it with their family at big events and gatherings.

“At Open Arms, we’ve cooked and tasted delicious dishes from across the globe, listening to the stories and memories evoked only when in the kitchen or sitting around the table.

Sharing a dish isn’t just about the food itself, it’s a way of learning something about someone else: who taught you to cook this? What place does this dish hold in your culture? When did you last eat this? We’ve seen how cooking and eating together holds a healing power for the young people who come to Open Arms – offering a way to connect and a chance to feel pride and a sense of home.”

Moa – Open Arms Project lead

Since 2022, Pie has held 157 Open Arms sessions, welcoming over 600 young people from 29 nationalities and cooking 157 fresh meals together.

“This cookbook is for anyone who wants to explore food from across the world, and it is also a resource for foster carers wanting ideas for how to cook with and for the young people in their care.

Buying this book also helps us gift these books for free to refugee or asylum-seeking young people now living alone and cooking for themselves.” – Dylane, Foster carer

Every cookbook purchased helps nourish Thanet’s young people today, to fuel a positive future for them all tomorrow.

Get your Open Arms Cookbook today for £15 – and make a difference this Christmas with every bite. Order at https://shop.piefactorymusic.com/.

Introducing our new employment programme for young people in Thanet.

Thanet has the highest rate of youth unemployment in the South East. 10.1% of 18 to 24-year-olds in Thanet are claiming out-of-work benefits, equating to 935 people.

Our new Pie Pros programme aims to help tackle this disparity by offering weekly work and life skills sessions for 16-20-year-olds who are not currently in employment or education.

Taking place every Wednesday from 1st October to 17th December from 10am – 12 midday at Pie HQ, Ramsgate Youth Centre CT11 0QG, the sessions offer:

• Confidence-building activities and insights.
• Tips and tricks for getting ready for work and life after school/college.
• An introduction to different industries and experts from retail, hospitality, finance, food, sport, animal welfare, music, the creative industries and more, with access to current job opportunities in Thanet.
• 1-2-1 Mentoring from our expertly trained youth workers.
• A life-enriching residential trip to Wales! Packed with new adventures and life skills.

To join the programme, young people need to email us at info@piefactorymusic.com or talk to us in one of our sessions at the youth centre.

We know how overwhelming the thought of leaving school or college can be, and how daunting finding a job can be.

Which is why we’re here to provide a much-needed self-esteem boost and be the support system to help young people on their journey into paid work.

The programme is generously funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund from Thanet District Council.

It’s been a year since we launched our #SaveOurYouthCentre campaign! We want to celebrate what our young people, charity, and community have achieved. Join us on Saturday 18th October 6pm at Ramsgate Youth Centre.

The last 12 months have been a rollercoaster ride, trying to save Ramsgate Youth Centre from being auctioned at commercial market by Kent County Council. Earlier this summer, we put the final proposal for our continued occupancy of the property to KCC officers, accompanied by a piece of research undertaken by Lizzie O’Halloran from Outskirts Research to demonstrate the social value of the programmes we run from the centre. We can’t wait to share some of these findings with you in the coming weeks.

The constant throughout this rollercoaster ride has been your support – thank you.

Whatever the outcome, we thought it’s high time we took a moment to celebrate what’s been achieved by our young people, our charity and our beloved community, and to thank you for all you do for us

Join us on Saturday 18th October 6pm
Ramsgate Youth Centre (CT11 0QG)

What to expect

Live music from our Emerging Artists alumni.
Poetry reading from Michael Isaacs.
Young voices – Pie participants share their experiences and views.
‘The Youth Club Years’ with Graham Tyman book signing and reading.
Inspiring impact – the stats and stories behind our vital work.
Your take – a chance to tell us your views on how we’re doing and ideas on what else we can do for Thanet’s young people.
Social network – meet fellow friends of Pie and hear about upcoming community projects.
Cake – nothing says thank you like a delicious sweet treat.

RSVP – tell us you’re coming by emailing us at info@piefactorymusic.com.

We look forward to seeing you on 18th October.

Zoë
CEO, Pie Factory Music

We want to hear what you think!

Our community is everything to us, and our shared belief that young people deserve better is the foundation of what we want Pie to achieve over the next few years.

We’re looking to the future, and we want you to be a part of the next slice of Pie.

We want to hear your views on how we’re doing and how we can do more so that we can grow and adapt in the best way possible for the young people of Thanet and East Kent.

We’re investing in young people’s futures because we believe they deserve it, and research shows they need it. We’re energised by your love, support and cheerleading. Now we’d like you to help us shape what’s to come.

Be a part of our journey into the future by having your say:

• Complete our short online survey

By taking part, you can opt in to enter our Prize Draw to WIN dinner for two at Seabird in Ramsgate, generously donated by our friends there (there is no obligation to do this to complete the survey).

Pie’s youth workers – Connor, Jeff and Luis – cycled over 250 miles from coast-to-coast, Portishead to Ramsgate, in 5 days from 5th to 9th June 2025 to raise funds for us and awareness of the need for dedicated spaces for young people to go to.

They visited youth clubs along the way, in Bradford-on-Avon and Newbury, meeting fellow youth workers and flying the flag for youth work. Every turn of the pedals aimed to get us closer to saving Ramsgate Youth Centre, which is being put up for commercial sale by Kent County Council, highlighting the urgent and important need for investment in youth work in Thanet.

The clock is ticking to save the youth centre. Having had two bids to buy the building rejected by the council, we are doing everything we can to have the decision to dispose of it reconsidered by the new administration in the hope that it can be saved for future generations of young people in Ramsgate and beyond.

Donate at www.justgiving.com/page/piecycle-challenge and watch the Piecycle highlights in the video below.

The ‘Piecycle Challenge’ brought the fight to save the youth centre to life with each turn of the bicycle pedals. The challenge ended with a celebratory homecoming party at Ramsgate Youth Centre where our Piecyclists were met on their return by our community and young people, with live music, food, drink and much-needed leg massages!

Thank you for your donations – they went a long way to fuel them during the ride and support Thanet’s young people in the future.

Over 1,000 young people attend Pie annually on average with participants describing the youth centre as a “safe haven”, their “second home” and a place to “make a fresh start”, “make friends” and “find freedom”. Without this space, the charity’s current provision of positive and diversionary activities and creative opportunities for young people will significantly decrease or stop, as they will be made to find alternative premises.

Connor, Jeff and Luis say:

“We live and breathe bikes, running Pie’s Bike Project initiative that equips young people with the skills and independence to ride, fix and maintain bicycles. It’s been a tough fight to save our youth centre, so with summer on the horizon, we’re channelling our passion into action. We’ve been pushing our limits, training hard, and are ready to take on some mega pedal power to raise £2,000 and awareness of our cause. We know times are tough for many, but anything you can give to offer the young people of Thanet hope right now is so appreciated.”

Regular Pie participants, Luke and Jacob chatted with Connor and Jeff to find out more about the Piecycle Challenge, why they want to do it, what they’re looking forward to and how training is going so far. Watch the film below.

After Kent County Council rejected our bids to secure Ramsgate Youth Centre during the asset of community value moratorium, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to stop the disposal and delay the building from being listed for auction.

We have had confirmation that KCC will wait until after the local election (1st May) to put the building up for auction, giving us the opportunity to encourage a new administration to reconsider the decision to dispose of Ramsgate Youth Centre, safeguarding it for vital youth services and protecting its legacy. 

We need your help to do this by writing to your local election candidates and asking them to pledge to reconsider the decision to dispose of Ramsgate Youth Centre should they be elected.

Write to your local Councillors:

Bryan Harrod (Labour) info@kentlabour.org.uk
Fi O’Connor (Green) thanetgreenparty@gmail.com
Amelia Randall (Reform) hernebayandsandwich@reformuk.com
Laurie Hudson (Labour) info@kentlabour.org.uk
Will Jarman (Green) thanetgreenparty@gmail.com
Cllr Phil Fellows (Conservative) contact@kentconservatives.org.uk
Luke Evans (Reform) info@kentlabour.org.uk
Charlie Leys (Conservative) contact@kentconservatives.org.uk
Peter Mousley (Labour) info@kentlabour.org.uk
Marc Rattigan (Conservative) contact@kentconservatives.org.uk
Barry Manners (Conservative) llr-barry.manners@thanet.gov.uk
Thea Barrett (Green) thanetgreenparty@gmail.com
Helen Whitehead (Labour) cllr-helen.whitehead@thanet.gov.uk
John Davis (Conservative) cllr-john.davis@thanet.gov.uk
Trevor Shonk (Reform) Trevor.Shonk@kent.gov.uk
Harry Goldfinch (Liberal Democrat) harrygoldfinch@gmail.com
Cllr Derek Crow-Brown (Conservative) Derek.Crow-Brown@kent.gov.uk
Jack Packman (Labour) cllr-jack.packman@thanet.gov.uk
Becky Wing (Green) cllr-rebecca.wing@thanet.gov.uk
Claire Hedderman (Labour) claire.hedderman@parliament.uk
Steve Roberts (Green) greensteveroberts@gmail.com
Lesley Game (Conservative) Lesley.Game@kent.gov.uk
Barry Lewis- Independent Barry.Lewis@kent.gov.uk
Mike Garner (Green) mayoralservices@broadstairs.gov.uk
Joanne Bright (Labour) cllr-joanne.bright@thanet.gov.uk
Deborah Holmes (Liberal Democrat)
Dr Mo Shafaei (Liberal Democrat)
Matthew Brown (Liberal Democrat)
Claire Goldfinch(Liberal Democrat)
Rachel Mummery – (Liberal Democrat)
Jeremy de Rose (Liberal Democrat)

Read more about the candidates in this article.

Here’s why we believe disposing of the youth centre won’t save the council any money:

• Young people spend 85% of their waking hours outside of school (YMCA and National Youth Agency Time’s Running Out report 2021) – without dedicated spaces to go to young people are vulnerable to grooming, crime, social isolation and anti-social behaviour.
• Youth work saves £500 million on public spending through crime reduction. £1 investment in youth work is estimated to return £3.20 – £6.40 of social value (UK Youth and Frontier Economics: Economic Value of Youth Work report 2022).
• Demand for mental health support has skyrocketed by 82% (National Youth Sector Census 2024) – youth services provide vital preventative intervention: 30% of young people felt more self-confident, 22% felt less isolated; 25% had decreased stress levels, 24% said it helped improve their mental health (YMCA and NYA Time’s Running Out 2021)

We are still hopeful that together we can Save Our Youth Centre! But regardless of what happens with our building, Pie will survive, and we will continue to be there for the young people of Thanet. We aren’t going anywhere. 

Youth services like ours show young people they are worthy, that they are amazing and they contribute so much to our community and society as a whole. They can do so much if they’re given the right tools, opportunities and support. But they can’t just be left and that’s what is happening. I spoke to Strange Tourist in more detail about this. 

Thank you as ever for your ongoing support 🙏

Zoë

Pie Factory Music CEO