Cherry Hinton Community Benefit Society

The project is to fit out a community cafe and kitchen within the new community hub in Cherry Hinton, Cambridge. The grant will cover the purchase of equipment (eg dishwasher, fridge) as well as kitchen fixtures such as commercial kitchen shelving and storage. The hub as a whole will be a flexible space housing three community meeting rooms and a branch library as well as the community cafe. CHCBS will run the café and manage hire/use of the meeting rooms, and will share lobby and toilet spaces with the library (run by County Council library services). The library and meeting rooms will be able to be converted to a larger space for communal events. Two of the rooms are suitable for either community activities or work meetings. The third is a smaller one-to-one room, suitable for advice or counselling work. Income from the cafe will be used to cover the rent, maintenance costs and meeting room management by CHCBS, as well as running costs of the Cherry Branch community cafe.
The hub building was completed in 2024 by Cambridge City Council, which owns the freehold, in response to a strongly identified need for community facilities in the ward. A cafe is the amenity that has been, by far, the most requested in resident consultations. The cafe and kitchen will help increase community cohesion by providing:
-a point of contact between local people and community services by facilitating use of the meeting rooms for advice drop ins and counselling activity
-work experience opportunities for volunteers who will help run the cafe (a paid catering manager will be employed initially to help train others)
-a warm and safe space for meeting up, socialising and networking, with affordable prices
-the potential for community meals that bring residents together and celebrate diversity, with the kitchen making hire of the meeting rooms and spaces more attractive.
The property is being leased unfurnished. CHCBS is responsible for equipping and furnishing all parts of the building that are leased solely to us. This entails raising funds, purchasing fittings, furnishings and equipment, and hiring contractors as required. We are asking Thalia for a grant to help us outfit and equip the kitchen space.