A lot of lip service is paid to the ongoing cost of living crisis, but at Bernie's Bar actions speak louder than words.
Patrick Fisher, Grace Tose and Kitt Nissen, the Newcastle bar's "founders", will be operating a "Kindness Kitchen" from the venue every Sunday in August which offers at-cost, cheap and hearty meals. People in need can simply turn up, eat in at Bernie's or take meals home to stock up the fridge for the following week.
The at-cost meals will be ready to take away and range from $5 to $12 per serve. Sunday's meals will be published online on a Friday, and the menu will be a mix of home-style classics and warming comfort food. Some dietaries will be catered for.
Tose is also asking for donations of pre-packaged, non-refrigerated and unopened lunchbox and pantry supplies for people to take as needed, as well as musicians willing to donate their time and talent to perform at the venue on Sundays.
"We are people who believe in doing something about problems, and Bernie's, while also being a bar, is very community oriented and a safe space that supports our city," Tose says.
"In response to seeing and hearing so many stories of people doing it tough (and I'm not going to lie, that includes ourselves as a small business and individuals too) we wanted to do something practical to help those around us.
"Kindness Kitchen was floated as a way we could provide a practical, immediate solution for some people."
The Rogue Scholar has volunteered some staff hours to Bernie's Bar to help out during August, Arcade Rising will be taking gaming consoles to the bar for people to play on Sundays, and musician Dan Bourke has already offered to perform.
On the final Sunday of the month there will be a clothing swap event; bring a bag and take what you need.
Providing meals to those in need was one motivation for Tose and her team. Another was ensuring Bernie's Bar remained accessible to those who relied on it for other, more personal, reasons.
"We know that many people can't afford to go out at the moment. At Bernie's we are a community and we don't want people denying themselves access to a safe space because they can't afford it," she says.
"Many people need to be able to access a space where they can just be themselves for a bit, to de-stress when potentially they have to keep up other masks and keep other parts of themselves closed.
"Being able to come in and do that is important, but that's not to say we will be checking gay IDs at the door or anything; anyone can come in and access what we are offering at Kindness Kitchen. It's open to whoever needs it."
Anything goes when it comes to events, catch-ups and celebrations at Bernie's Bar, and it's all in the name of inclusivity and community.
"We are very much a group that will give any idea a go. We come up with some wild concepts because we're creative and we're willing to go outside the box," Tose says.
"Yes, we're a for-profit business, but our purpose is a bit bigger than that."
She uses as an example the bar's association with Arcade Rising, a Mayfield business that offers arcade and console games for hire.
"We have worked with them a couple of times now, they come in and bring consoles or gaming units, or arcade games, and it's fun, low-effort and very inclusive. There's no eye contact (which is great for our autistic crowd) and people can sit and be in a space without pressure, without feeling that they're not participating.
"They can just watch or they can play the game, and they get that little bit of an opening to chat or meet others if they want to."
The sentiment behind Kindness Kitchen is even more impressive given that Bernie's Bar is feeling the pinch just as much as any other business.
"If you don't give 10 cents out of a dollar, you'll never give $10,000 out of a million, you know? We've always had that ethos, the three of us," Tose says.
"You help as much as you can within what's manageable for you, and we all agreed that this would be manageable. There was no reason for us not to help in some way."
