2026 is around the corner. If you haven’t already, it’s the perfect time to reflect on 2025, plan for next year, set targets for your community work and impact, and assess if you are equipped to achieve your goals.

Reflecting on 2025 — how did your kitchen serve your goals?

It sounds like an obvious thing to do, but busy groups with many plans lots on their plates can easily let a year go by without taking a moment to reflect on their work and assess their impact.

How are you regular fixtures and activities performing? Could they attract or benefit more people? If they could be stronger, how could they improve? If they are doing well, what are you doing right, and how do you replicate it?

Likewise for one-off and special events — what would you do the same or differently, and did any of the activities prove worthy of becoming a regular fixture?

Of course, everything comes back to your purpose. Facts and figures matter a great deal, but the most important question is whether what you have done served your overall mission, and how well.

Set goals for your kitchen’s usage in 2026

In light of your reflections, ambitions, it’s the perfect time to set goals for next year. Not only will those keep you focused and efficient, but they will also make following year’s reflections clearer and more objective.

Your ambitions will of course be specific to your circumstances, and they don’t have to be large to be useful. They could be as simple as welcoming 10 new patrons to your events, or running two new events over the course of the year.

Assess if your kitchen can serve your goals

The chances are that most or all of the events and gatherings will involve food or drink, and it could be that one of the keys to growing your community and achieving your plans could be a better equipped, more durable, more hygienic, and more attractive kitchen.

Whether it is attracting more rentals for your kitchen space, bringing more members into your community, or running more effective outreach and support programmes, your kitchen can be the engine for your progress, but only if it is fit to do so.

What does that mean in practice?

• Your kitchen needs to be pleasant to use, for community members and for any groups who are renting it, and practical for catering companies to use for larger events. That means a durable and hygienic design that stands up to heavy use without deteriorating. A Zintec Polyester powder-coat mild steel carcass is ideal, but if you opt for a wooden design, then make sure it is certified for heavy use by the Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA).
• Your goal setting may reveal a need for new equipment or a change in kitchen layout. If you are not sure what you will need, a design expert like Steelplan Kitchens can offer some helpful guidance.
• Making the kitchen a pleasure to work in will help people make more and better use of it. It is a functional space, but one that can and should still have character in keeping with that of your group. The use of colour and style is key there.

If you want to know the full potential of your kitchen, or need to consult an expert on how to achieve the kitchen results that you need, email [email protected] or call 020 8254 0090 and one of our friendly design team can offer some no obligation advice, and even prepare a free-of-charge 3D virtual tour of your potential new kitchen.