Autumn Updates

Westgate Pantry and Hub

We are really pleased to be able to announce that we are opening a Hub and Pantry in Westgate in October.

It has been a long journey to get to this point, but thanks to funding from Feeding Britain and the support of Gloucester City Homes we will be opening in October.

We will be opening a community pantry, to offer food support to local residents and a community hub which will offer training and support.

We have been supported by some wonderful local organisations–

• Westgate Residents Group

• We are Project Grow

• Nourishing Gloucester

• The Folk

• Gloucester Foodbank

• GL Communities

We will be aiming to provide more than just food support and training, we will be focusing on wellbeing and community support

• through financial advice and support

• support for those struggling to access data, through the Good Things Foundation

• and through community activities in collaboration with the Westgate Residents Group and other local organisations and people.

As well as training people in Community Organising , we will offer training in developing social enterprises and work and volunteering opportunities.

Gloucester Park Community Cafe

We first got involved in the café in Gloucester Park way back before the pandemic, when one of our trainee organisers ran a pop up café whilst working in the park. Then in 2022 we started conversations with the City Council about a trial licence to run the café as a community enterprise. We opened briefly in 2023, but had to shut for 2024 due to repairs needed in the building.

This year we opened in March and have been open since, we have had a wonderful spring and summer getting to know people in the park and it has been a pleasure to work in the park. We have had our ups and downs - from bad weather to broken freezers, but we are still open.

We have also been working with the Gloucestershire Skills and Employment Hub to offer training and work experience and have so far offered opportunities to four volunteers.

We are now moving into autumn ad we are facing new challenges, autumn and winter weather mean less people use the park, so we have developed a website and are now offering click and collect for your food, drinks and treats, and we are offering a catering service. So if you work around the park or if you walk through on your way to walk you can order your food ready for when you are. If you would like to order food for a party or event then please get in touch.

The Ewe Space

The Ewe Space is an established community hub with an active residents group, we are working with this group, Matson and Robinswood Residents Group as they begin to explore how to run the hub themselves, how they can make the hub financially self-sufficient and how they can use community organising to help them support their local community.

The hub offers a range of community support including financial and debt support and autumn the residents group have identified the need to support their community through opening a community pantry and a breakfast club, they have been fundraising for the hub and have been raising money through events, activities and a tuck shop.