Dear readers, it has been a while since my last blog about the development of the WestRaven Community Cafe!
You will be pleased to know that we have been granted the change of use for the property at 24-28 Hampton Court, Peterborough. We have also decided on a contractor to undertake the work. On the 13 July 2016 a partnership board meeting was held to approve the set-up cost and the request for extra funds.
Once this has been approved, we can start work on the conversion. Once the work has been completed there will be a two-week period to set up the inside and for staff training. We will then be inviting local businesses to an event to promote the café and what we can offer to them in the way of hospitality and events. In addition to this, we will also be inviting local volunteers and volunteering services to get involved with the café.
We aim to have a ‘soft opening’ to make sure all systems are in place, and then later we will have a full opening event to promote the café to the local community. The café opening hours will be 8am-4.30pm Monday to Saturday, and 11.30am-3.30pm on Sunday. On Monday to Saturday we will be offering breakfast, grab and go, and a simple lunch menu which will change every two weeks. On a Sunday we will be offering a Sunday roast, which customers will need to book a table for. One day a week we will be offering a free three-course meal in partnership with Peterborough Foodcycle.
A community engagement officer will organise the events that will take place in the café during opening hours. The youth in localities team will run the Garage Youth Group for 14 to 18 year olds. Ideas for the future include everything from pop-up restaurants, alfresco foods, senior lunch clubs, street foods, intergenerational cooking and cultural foods from around the world. We will also operate a Loyalty Card scheme and for volunteers a discount in relation to the volunteer hours.
I have also been keeping busy piloting the Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food cooking classes with two local primary schools, running cooking classes at City College Peterborough for Greeniversity and for Cross Keys Homes, and we also provided a BBQ for Ravensthorpe School’s sports day and summer fair and at the local Sue Ryder event in Hampton Court, Westwood.
If you would like to know more information or would like to come and get involved with the café or other activities that WestRaven’s Big Local are doing then we would love to hear from you! Please email [email protected].
Current views of the soon-to-be cafe!
