When you think of a restaurant set up as a social enterprise to fund a charity it is inevitably Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen that springs to mind.
But, did you know the same concept is also being used in Spalding?
Dr Azmeena Nathu, of Spalding’s Pennygate Surgery, and Brenda Wickham have created their very own Fifteen-esque cafe to fund services for the elderly, isolated and in need.
Previously, Brenda, who retired to Lincolnshire from London, had volunteered with a range of organisations with health and social care functions, but watched in horror as many of them began to fold.
She said: “Dr Nathu couldn’t find services for her patients because they were being withdrawn and we kept saying ‘we want to do something, there’s a need not being fulfilled’. With the money situation in Government and the councils, everything was closing down.”
Between them, out of their own pockets, the duo bought a run-down house next to Dr Nathu’s surgery and turned it into the Pennygate Foundation Community drop-in centre and cafe. The front room has become a meeting room, with shelves full of books for visitors to browse or borrow, the dining room and lean-to conservatory is a cafe seating area and the tiny kitchen is capable of catering for up to 50 people at a time.
The drop-in centre now provides somewhere to go for those lonely through bereavement or illness, the elderly, mums with young children, people with dementia and their carers, foreign nationals, the homeless and anyone and everyone who needs a friend.
On Christmas Day, Dr Nathu and Brenda cooked a four-course lunch for 110 people in two sittings.
Brenda said: “I’m not a cook but I did a Cordon Bleu course on holiday in France once just for fun. That has come in handy!”
Volunteers, including Brenda, man the centre and cafe 10am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday. Brenda and Dr Nathu have completed food hygiene training and put a number of volunteers through the course too.
Volunteers are always on hand for a chat and to provide practical help. For example, they will sit with dementia suffers to give carers the chance of an uninterrupted meal.
For those who are housebound, meals are delivered and volunteers stay with people while they eat. The volunteers will also help around the house with cleaning or whatever else is needed.
The cafe is there both in a bid to provide low-cost meals to those who may not otherwise eat properly and in the hope it will generate enough money to cover the running costs of the drop-in centre and its services. All profits are put straight back into keeping the centre open and providing additional services such as transport to bring people in. Meals and services are subsidised for those who cannot afford to pay.
Brenda said: “We couldn’t run without volunteers. That’s the whole idea of the thing. If you have paid staff when the grants don’t come in anymore, the staff have to go and the service stops.
“Our volunteers are our liquid gold.”
The centre provides a base for providers of alternative therapies and nail clipping, which are offered at a reduced rate. An IT suite for community use is being created and the finishing touches are being added to a community hall in a converted outbuilding.
In the summer holidays young people knocked on the door looking for something to do. They were put to work gardening and painting.
In return the centre gave them free refreshments and laid on a barbecue.
Brenda said: “We are here for the whole community. Whether you be black, white, yellow, red. Whatever race, religion or creed, whether you are poor, in work or out-of-work, we are here. Whoever walks through that door, they can have help and advice immediately.”
A ‘dining experience’ for those on a budget
Pennygate Community Cafe provides low cost meals and uses the profits to fund a drop-in centre and raft of services.
Brenda Wickham, founder, said: “The idea of the cafe is that people can come and have a dining experience. Cakes are served on stands, tea is served in pots, all the crockery matches.
“We want people who are on low incomes to be able to come in and get an experience they would usually pay three or four times the cost to have.”
Once-a-month there’s a pudding club where diners are treated to a selection of speciality puddings and coffee. On a Wednesday, fish shop cooked fish and chips are served with mushy peas or beans, bread and butter, a choice of four or five puddings and tea and coffee for £5.
Hot food is served 11am to 2pm, Monday to Friday.
Something for all at drop-in
Services on offer at the Pennygate drop-in centre include craft and “ladies that lunch” clubs.
A mother and tots group is soon to be launched, 10am to 12pm, Wednesdays, £2.50.
June Page (73), of Spalding, is one of the volunteers.
“I come here and feel as though I have done something worthwhile,” she said.
Grandmother Beryl Harding is a regular visitor. She said: “It’s lovely to go there and have someone of your own generation to talk to.”
Rosie Smith (64), of Spring Street, Spalding, regularly enjoys a meal at the cafe with partner Mike Johnson (67).
Rosie said: “What they do at the centre for everyone is just brilliant. I would highly recommend it to anyone.”
To find out what else is on, call 01775 421001.
