Charities working in the West End of Newcastle have joined forces to bring their community together by launching a café.
Located in the heart of the Cowgate estate, Children North East and Sporting Chance have officially opened their cafe’s doors.
With some residents saying they find it hard to find a job and struggle to make ends meet, these charities are on a mission to help.
And this is more than just your average café, the team will be providing affordable healthy food, training opportunities and jobs to the area.
Taking over the former Lavender Kitchen located in Cowgate Community Centre, the two charities wanted to bring the place back to the community.
And the two charities are both bringing something to the table, Children North East is hosting the café in it's Families and Parenting centre whilst Sporting Chance are supplying staff, including trained chef Lee Wilson, who’s also a member of their teaching team.
All food that will be plated is donated from FairShare North East, who provide surplus supermarket food to communities affected by economic and social exclusion.
Children North East's Families and Parenting Service runs a number of activities for families including baby music sessions; first aid and home safety advice and equipment installation.
There are also courses to help parents forge better relationships with their teens and children and more intensive courses addressing domestic violence.
Tracey Welsh, service manager at Children North East's Families and Parenting Service, said: "We know some people struggle to put healthy food on the table because, as we all know, fresh fruit and vegetables can be expensive.
"We hope that this partnership with Sporting Chance and FairShare will make a decent meal more affordable for local families."
And Sporting Chance, a non-for-profit organisation providing education and training opportunities to people who can’t access mainstream education, is hoping to offer training opportunities for people to gain catering qualifications and bring more jobs to the area.
Jamie Cairns, Director of Sporting Chance North East, said: "We want the café to be a one-stop shop where people will be able to get a low cost, healthy meal, where we can interest them in the activities we provide and signpost them to different services.
"We would also like to be able to offer work experience and training as the café becomes more established."
