Abbotsholme’s Charity Cafe

Project summary

This school used the set-up funds from the Anniversary Challenge to establish a café providing healthy food for the students and generating income for charity. This case study outlines the role that students played in the planning and management of the café.

Introduction

Abbotsholme has always had a strong Service ethos. Yet, we recognise that as a small school, we need to carefully consider how we generate charity funds whilst not exhausting the school community’s appetite for support. We wanted to find a mechanic, therefore, that would allow us to raise funds without constantly appealing to the same community for support. We had found in the past that one-off events, whilst being successful, were very resource intensive and we were keen to explore a way of creating an initiative that could be more easily integrated into the daily life of the school. As part of an enterprise project a few years ago, our students successfully ran a Tuck Shop, so we knew a model of that nature would work well – we just needed it to work well for charity too.

We decided to pursue the idea of a charity café in January and gathered a committee to help shape the café’s construction and direction. In response to concerns about promoting unhealthy eating habits, we ensured the menu choices would offer healthy snacks. It was agreed that the café would open three times a day (morning, lunch and afternoon break) across four days of the school week. I agreed to collect the produce for sale and leave the management and sales to student volunteers.

Planning

Once a disused part of the school had been allocated (an old classroom) our committee set to work transforming the space to look a little more like a café. The children painted the entire space and also added Round Square information and decorations. The café furniture was either created cheaply by our maintenance team, or borrowed from elsewhere in the school. We also had a number of items donated by teachers and parents.

A key part of my preparation was to understand the implications of running a food service of this nature. Thankfully, our catering manager was really helpful in advising on health and safety and sharing resources, such as the school’s risk assessments, which I was able to easily adapt. Whilst some of the administrative side felt a little onerous at first (for example, creating allergen sheets for every food item) I was conscious that once created, they would not have to be replicated, as long as we stuck to agree food choices.

Activity

The café launched in March with a healthy menu serving items such as lentil curls, popcorn, pea snacks, flapjacks and fruit nuggets. The items were purchased at a low cost by me from a wholesale supplier, with all the mark-up donated to charity.

The café is usually staffed by a pair of Sixth Formers plus a few younger pupils. This ensures that the students have enough to do but also have the support of older pupils to keep them focused on the job! We have a rota and by and large, the children stick to it.

Challenges

• Helping the students bed-in to their management roles – When we first opened the café, there were some students who took a little time to adjust to their first experience of ‘management’. We used our committee meetings to talk informally about what it means to manage people, and how to deal with issues that might arise.
• Sourcing food for sale – The early stages of the café’s management have been quite labour intensive for me, for example, being responsible each week for collecting the food items. However, I’m conscious that some of our students will soon be able to drive and have access to a car, so I hope to delegate that aspect very soon!

Impact

We have raised close to £600 in this part of term; a great achievement and one that we are proud of. It has allowed us to find a way of maintaining our other fundraising initiatives, whilst discovering ways to raise even more funds for charity.

The Future

We will continue to run the café as long as there is enthusiasm for it. It has been such a great way of providing children with the satisfaction of raising funds alongside the experience of managing the café’s operation.

Advice

Seek out free donations! I was surprised by the amount of labour and materials that we could get for free so make sure you ask around before committing any budget to the café’s set-up.

Spread your resource net wide – It can sometimes be a challenge finding enough students, and the right maturity of students, to run the café on some days. Be aware of the pinch points in the school calendar (for example, exams) and consider other year groups that could step in to support.

Every little helps – And linked to the above (!) find a way to employ the help of your colleagues in some of the administration. That might be overseeing the rota, picking up food items etc. Every little helps and will ensure that the café operation ticks over with hopefully only a little input from colleagues and students each day.