The Rec Cafe, Hayle

REC CAFE HAYLE

Organisation overview

The Rec is a cafe in the heart of Hayle which is growing into a community hub. It is physically the cafe in the recreation ground but is far more than that. We open all year round to be a constant place of community, comfort and company. We are a massive influence on the young people and have been impactful in reducing anti social behaviour in the area.

We host a weekly youth club with the local churches as the town now has no other youth provision.

We host numerous community focussed events throughout the year drawing people from all back grounds.

We also feed the homeless in the summer months and offer £5 Friday community meals deals to bring people out together.

We also partner with education groups to help mentor young people and have been appreciated by the local council, schools, police and public.

We are blessed to be able to have a wide range of customers and audience. From mums and babies, primary school, secondary school, teenage, young adult all the way up to elderly whom we host regular gatherings for to combat lonliness and depression.

The Challenge

To be honest when i took the cafe on i thought it could be a little extra income. How wrong i was! Within a few months seeing the extreme needs in the area, my faith and drive aligned into a dream to be a safe space to create, maintain and steward real simple community.

I did this because i saw the need, but had to pay for the privilege. 3 years on the limited company has managed to exist and cover the bills, gown a hugely apprecited following, nurtured a local youth provision rain or shine for over 2 years weekly and has seen lives changed in the process.

Unfortunately the hospitality industry is fickle at best and with hard economic times, a poor demographic and rising costs i have struggled to keep going.

We have now successfully opened a CiC and really hope this can help.

I have been known as a risk taker, and bolstered by my faith, i have kept going and kept feeding people, hosting events, opening even when it wasn't financially worth it, because the need was there and no one else was meeting it. Now these risks are becoming my limitations because i can no longer afford to take those risks financially.

Objectives

In many respects we have done more than we set out to achieve as a business, but now being a recognised necessity in the area brings things to a new level.

We have a approval for indoor seating in shipping containers which will serve as a cafe and youth club and multi purpose community space.
Getting this will mean all year round, dry warm accessible for all ages and demographics.
We want to see the vulnerable youths of hayle of the streets and safe on more than 1 night a week.
To have holiday hunger reduced in our town
We want to see the poorer end of the community, eat well and be part of society well.
We want to continue to grow strong noticeable community cohesion.
We want to host large community meals in the park

The solution

Transformation Cornwall has provided Clinton who has been invaluable in so many ways. Someone who understands the heart and vision and gets the why, but also gets how hard it is to survive financially whilst doing it.

We have collaborated and some projects already and are working on more and this has been great for me to know i have support, advice and more experience to lean on.

This was effective because it was personal, working together on the ground to be the light.

Results

One noticeable measurable impact is receiving our first grant for projects, and another was when we collaborated and saw an immediate appreciation from parents of troubled youths who really engaged with the projects.

This will in the future help with our organisation networking and engagement .

Client Experience

It was amazing working with TC, it has been such a help and relief to have understanding people there to support me.

The Team are passionate which make the journey authentic and purposeful.

Testimonial

Transformation Cornwall has been a breath of fresh air for us who have struggled to sustain the things we are doing. The team are passionate which makes the journey with them authentic and purposeful.

Future Plans

We hope to grow to function all year round multiple nights a weeks, growing new avenues of community provision and being able to engage financial support to sustain it all for years to come.