Ateneu Alt Urgell launches crowdfunding for community kitchen

Irreductible, the Ateneu Alt Urgell, has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Goteo to raise funds for a fully equipped kitchen that would serve members, support occasional large communal lunches and make it possible to revive the centre’s social dining room. The initiative is presented as a return to the group’s roots, which grew out of the Mutual Support Network.

The association will show the nearly finished new spaces during an open day next Thursday, the 18th. Renovations have been carried out over the past year largely by members who volunteered every Thursday from four to eight in the evening. Skilled volunteers taught masonry, carpentry and electrical work, turning the project into a small collaborative workshop where many learned practical trades. For major jobs such as the roof, professional masons were contracted, and the group expects to have to hire specialists for the more complex work required to install the kitchen.

So far the campaign has raised almost €7,000 of a minimum target of €8,000; the ideal goal is about €12,000. If they reach the higher amount they would also be able to improve accessibility, since the heavy wooden entrance door is currently a barrier for people with reduced mobility. Donations are tax-deductible for Spanish taxpayers; those who pay taxes in Andorra are not eligible for the same relief, the organisers note.

One objective of the kitchen is to restore the social dining room that used to operate periodically — in some periods weekly — and has since declined, although the centre still runs activities such as food distributions supplied by local shops and the market. The planned kitchen would also allow the bar operator to offer prepared dishes if they choose.

The group acknowledges that obtaining the necessary administrative permits for a commercial-standard kitchen will slow the timetable and shift much of the work from self-build to contracted specialists. Nevertheless, they hope the facility can be completed in less than a year.

The project is part of a long-term strategy to adapt the Ateneu’s premises to evolving needs and involves a participatory process among members to define the future of the space. The first phase of rehabilitation rescued a neglected area behind the building and created a multipurpose room that is about to be inaugurated. The current phase focuses on converting back-of-house space into a “dignified” kitchen. Organisers stress that the goal is not the equipment itself but to make the Ateneu a place “where things happen.”

The Ateneu, which marks ten years of activity and has around 200 members, aims to provide comfortable spaces for meetings and events — for example, avoiding situations where a meeting in the small room can only be reached by passing through an ongoing talk or screening. Various organisations connected to the Ateneu and the original Mutual Support Group have become active local players, from the Alternativa to the Housing Union, the latter described as necessarily very active.