Cllr Marian Livingston with Revd. Jeremy Tear Vivienne Johnson
Cllr Marian Livingston, Mayor of Reading, opened the new 3C’s Café at St John’s church, Gosbrook Road, Caversham on May 6.
‘This is the second café that I’ve opened within a church in the last two months.’ said Cllr Livingston. ‘I welcome it as something absolutely fantastic. Churches are wonderful community spaces, they bring people together and they have so many purposes in terms of outreach, fundraising and all kinds of things that you can’t even begin to think about.
‘Having a café on the premises just facilitates all of that. So much good is going to come out of this little space that people won’t believe it.’
The Lower Caversham Community Partnership (LCCP) had to fight against red-tape and for funding since they formed in 2011. LCCP was formed by Newbridge Nursery, Caversham Hall, St John’s church and Caversham Methodist church.
The group first met to consider the possibility of working more closely together and using their collective resources to meet the needs of the people in Caversham. The 3C’s café was born out of that meeting.
‘The members of the partnership have been on quite a journey since then to get to where we are today.’ said Revd Jeremy Tear, Community Priest St. John’s.
Richard Purkis of LCCP said ‘Thanks to grants from Reading Springboard who gave £5,000, The Big Lottery Fund who gave £7,500 and Church House Caversham who gave £6,500 we have been able to get the toilet adapted, have changes to the kitchen and have a special café counter built. We spent all the money we’ve been given.’
The coffee making equipment and all the teas and coffee are sourced from Reading’s own Kingdom Coffee. The volunteer manager and all the staff were trained by Kingdom Coffee on how to make delicious barista style coffee.
The vision for 3C’s is for it to be a place to meet and that it will become part of Lower Caversham’s community. ‘It can be a platform for this church and other churches,’ said Jeremy. ‘I hope it will help us think through how we serve and engage with the local community.’
The 3C’s café is a not-for-profit café and will serve a range of freshly-ground coffee and tea with cakes and biscuits.
At the moment 3C’s café is open on Tuesdays only from 9-30am to 2-30pm. As custom builds the opening hours will be extended.
3C’s café is situated in St John’s church. St John’s is on the corner of St John’s Road and Gosbrook Road, Caversham, RG4 8EB.
Sylvia Purkis and Sue McQueen (Picture: Vivienne Johnson)
Last modified on Tuesday, 06 May 2014 19:15
