New community café in Stroud Green

I'm helping to get the word out about a new green community café that opened yesterday in the old Station House on the corner of Stapleton Hall Road and Ferme Park Road (the MIND building), and will be open every Friday lunchtime from now on.  The Station House Community Café is an initiative by award-winning charity <a title="FoodCycle website" href="http://www.foodcycle.org.uk ">FoodCycle</a> whose aim is to reduce 'food poverty' in the community by bringing together volunteers, surplus food and an idle kitchen space to create nutritious meals for local people.

The initiative has been supported by local councillors through a small grant from the Making the Difference programme.  The aim is to stop food being wasted and to provide cheap and healthy food to whoever wants it.  I visited the manager last week to find out about the preparations and how it works.  They work with local food retailers including Budgens, M&S and Sainsbury’s. They collect their surplus produce and use it to provide hearty meals that are prepared and served by local volunteers who themselves gain valuable training and practical experience.  They also plan to hold healthy eating initiatives at the café, such as nutrition workshops and cooking lessons, providing local people with better knowledge about eating well.  I suggested they also promote the history of the building they are in and the parkland walk nearby - which were central to the development of Stroud Green.

The café will be open 12 noon till 2.30pm every Friday.  Please try it out.

Comments

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • edited 5:21PM
    ...when we're all at work! Great concept though. Food wastage in our society is shocking.
  • I think they plan to start small with just one day a week and try to increase the days if it takes off.
  • edited 5:21PM
    Obviously sounds very worthwhile in theory - concern for local residents would be that "community cafe" is a euphamism for soup kitchen and this ends up becoming a focal point for "vulnerable" individuals/homeless/alcoholics etc and related social problems hanging around that area on Fridays, resulting littering and mess which obviously would be a concern for us locals. The other operation on the Foodcycle website that is actually described is clearly a "soup kitchen" type operation for refugees etc. i.e. not a trendy eco cafe. Before any increase in days some time should be allowed to pass to judge the impact on local residents.

    Has this been thought about? Will there be appropriate security/supervision?
  • edited October 2010
    <http://www.foodcycle.org.uk/projects/haringe/>; This says pretty clearly that it's for everyone in the community rather than particular vulnerable groups. Foodcycle's Bristol project looks like it mostly serves students, so I don't think there's one set model at this stage.
  • edited 5:21PM
    @ delaware 1 - I thought I was a miserable sod!

    Looks great. I'll be there this week with the kids. Hopefully we can pop in after a parkland walk, and before getting a DVD from Londis for a lovely half-term matinee.
  • It does look good, will probably take my son there this week.
  • edited 5:21PM
    I totally agree, it looks great, just what we need around here. I can't wait to take my son next Friday on a rare day off from work.

    @ delaware1 what pessimistic views you have! Lets give the venture a chance before we put a damper on it eh?
  • edited 5:21PM
    I'd love to help out, but I work full-time. Would be more than happy doing an evening shift.
  • IBDIBD
    edited 5:21PM
    They're re-developing the garden too, so there will soon be an outside space as well. Wrong season, I know, but you can't choose which time of year they give you the grant and it will still be there next spring. It's at the back of the building, so it faces onto the Parkland Walk, not the road.
  • edited 5:21PM
    Heaven forfend that the vulnerable" individuals/homeless/alcoholics etc and people with related social problems could actually be local too.
  • edited 5:21PM
    I'm going to give it a try tomorrow! We do need a lunchtime cafe in this area. But what happened to Mind?
  • edited 5:21PM
    know this is missing the point a bit, but it would be nice if someone stripped the flaking paint job from that building to show off the original attractive brickwork underneath.
  • edited 5:21PM
    I'm here right now.
  • edited 5:21PM
    Full review please.
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • edited 5:21PM
    I had the day off so went along and was glad I did. I had the main and it was really nice. The food was really good and a bargain at 3 courses for £4 including tea. It was full when I arrived so I shared a table. If I have another day off on a Friday then I'll definetly pop round.
  • edited 5:21PM
    @arkady - it would be lovely to have the original brick work showing but the work would cost money (and while someone is doing that they could also tart up the laundrette opposite and that would be a really nice entrance to Ferme Park Rd). Mind in Haringey currently has the lease of the building and is in charge of the upkeep I think. They had a grant to paint it a few years ago and so I guess the chance has been lost to strip it down to the brickwork. Mind is really struggling financially - I guess the Community Cafe pays rent to them? It would be good to know a bit more about the set up. I occassionally bump into the admin worker there so next time I see her I will ask her the position.
    I forgot to go to the cafe on Friday - I was stuck at my computer. I have now put it in my diary for next week. £4 for a full lunch sounds fantastic but what I like most about the concept is that a lot of the food is donated from local supermarkets!!
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