Most charity events ask you to do something you wouldn't normally do. Run 10k. Sit through a raffle. Wear a onesie to work.
Ours asks you to eat a big bowl of ramen in a pub. That's it. You were going to have tea anyway.
A charity night that's also dinner
Jefes Ramen is Buy 1 Give 1. Every bowl you buy funds a matching meal for someone experiencing homelessness. One for you, one given. No add-on, no "would you like to round up", no guilt at the till.
I started this because I've been on the other side of hunger. I know what it's like when the next meal isn't a given. So I built something where the good bit happens just by people doing what they already do on a night out: eating and having a drink with their mates.
If you want the full explanation, I wrote it up in what is Buy 1 Give 1. Short version: you eat, someone else eats.
Platform Tavern, Town Quay: Tuesday 17 November, 6pm till 10pm
Platform Tavern, Town Quay, Southampton SO14 2NY. Tuesday 17 November, 6pm till 10pm.
We're a Stockport crew, so coming down to Southampton is a proper trip for us. Platform Tavern opened its kitchen to us for the night. We cook, they run the bar. And the pub keeps 100% of the bar, every penny of it.
A Tuesday in November isn't the night most people expect something to be on. I wrote about why that's the point in things to do in Southampton on a Tuesday. All the details for the night are on the Southampton page.
What "funds a matching meal" actually means
I'm careful with words here, because a lot of charity stuff gets dressed up.
When you buy a bowl, the money for a second meal is set aside for someone experiencing homelessness. That's the promise. I'm not going to give you big numbers about lives changed in Southampton or put a sad photo in front of you. We haven't done a Southampton night yet. What I can tell you is how it works, and that it's the same deal everywhere we go.
Other ways to help: volunteer on the night
Not everyone wants to eat ramen on a Tuesday. Fair enough. If you'd rather muck in, we need hands: welcoming people, running bowls, clearing up, keeping the energy right.
Sign up to volunteer. Southampton people especially. You know the place better than we do.
And if you run a pub on the south coast and you're thinking "we could do this", have a look at how hosting works. The first two nights are a free trial, then it's £48 a night, and you keep 100% of the bar.
Book before presale closes Tuesday 10 November
Presale on Eventbrite closes Tuesday 10 November, a week before the night. Booking ahead means we cook the right number of bowls and travel down with the right amount of everything.
Book your Southampton bowl on Eventbrite
The whole tour runs on 382k Reasons, our Crowdfunder, which closes Tuesday 27 October. It's what gets us out of Stockport and into pub kitchens like this one. If you can back it before then, here's the page. If you can't, come and eat. That counts just as much.
See you at Town Quay.
Jerelle, Jefes Ramen