The new £245k city coffee shop with love at its heart
Couple hoping new venture will be a community hub
CARING husband and wife Robert and Emily
Price have unveiled a
£245,000 coffee shop – that’s been six years in the making.
The couple hope Love Coffee will prove to be a real community hub.
The volunteers have transformed unused space at Love Stoke Church’s Meir Park Community Centre base.
The cash spent on the venture includes £65,000 from Stoke-on-trent City Council. It has been used to build the coffee shop and kit it out with a coffee machine, dishwasher, furniture and crockery.
Disabled ramps have also been set up, at Love Stoke, which opened on Thursday, along with additional disabled parking spaces.
Robert says the cash spent there will go back into the community to develop what’s on offer at the Lysander Road centre.
Robert, a senior leader at Love Stoke Church, said: “We have always had a vision that the coffee shop will become a community hub for residents and a place of excellence. Every penny spent here will be going back into the community to allow us to grow the offer of the community centre.
“It’s in our DNA to give back more than we take. Our motto is to love people and that’s why it’s called Love Coffee. We want people to have a sense of belonging and a safe place and with the Community Investment Fund money from Stoke-on-trent City Council we have been able to create that. We could not have done all of this without Stoke-on-trent City Council, so we are very grateful. Our hearts are bursting that we have finally been able to achieve this after six years.”
The cash from the council is from two rounds of the local authority’s Community Investment Fund (CIF). Councillor Lorraine Beardmore, cabinet member for culture, leisure and public health, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support the launch of this brand-new coffee shop at the Love Stoke Church at Meir Park Community Centre.
“Love Stoke Church has used just under £65,000 from two rounds of Community Investment Fund money to transform this space into something fantastic. Love Coffee is an amazing venue which provides an inclusive space for all members of the community.
“It serves great coffee and great cakes and people can even pay it forward by buying a drink for the next person who might need that support. It really is a fantastic facility for the local community.”