On Friday 25th September the cafe will be supporting the Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning. Please come and join us for delicious cakes, crepes and other goodies. We will be running the event all day, from 10 a.m and very much look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. There will be competitions and games throughout the day and we will be making a generous donation to the Macmillan Cancer Support charity, so please come and support us and this very worthy cause. See you then, if not before

We were given a great boost last week when the inspection from Environmental Health gave us the top 5 star (very good) rating for cleanliness. It shows what can be achieved by focussing on operating a really quality establishment – well done to the team for this amazing achievement!

5 star memories

Everyday we hear more of your stories about the Park and the cafe; it seems generations of you have enjoyed the Park, the boating lake and the cafe for many years. Let’s keep those memories alive, and together create new memories.

5 star help

You are key to the success of the cafe. It’s your cafe and we need your help. We’d like to keep the cafe open 6 days a week through the autumn, but the cafe will only be open if you help: in the cafe, baking cakes or as customers. Pop in and discuss how you can help.

If you are baking, please speak to us about what and when you can help – we need to manage the supply of cakes to make sure we meet the demand appropriately – please don’t bring cakes without telling us first as it can be embarrassing.

5 star Park

Taking on the cafe at such short notice in the peak season has been all consuming, and we haven’t thought much about the rest of the Park. Some of you are already helping in the gardens around the cafe (there is always room for more help) and are making a great difference.

We haven’t discussed the future of the Park with the District; following their decision in July to take back the Park; we felt they needed time to think. As the autumnal planting season approaches we need to start a dialogue to optimise developments over the coming months. Should I say watch this space?

5 star events

We’ve got some ideas for events in the cafe/park this autumn and will be sharing these with you very soon. If you have ideas please let us know: cafe@northlodgepark.org.uk.
Hope to see you in the cafe soon.
Barry Meadows
5 Star Barista Trainer

Life was really brought back to North Lodge Park this afternoon with The Jefford Brothers treating us all to some really good music, on one of those lazy Friday afternoons.  We hope all those of you who came enjoyed it as mush as we did.  Many thanks to the great musicians; many thanks to the band of helpers, and (most importantly) many thanks to you for coming.

If you have some pictures of this afternoon that you would like to share, please send them to us at cafe@northlodgepark.org.uk.

To celebrate a whole week of ‘crepes and cakes’ in North Lodge Park there will be live jazz with your tea from 3 on Friday 14th August 2015.

Yes, it is only a week, but it already feels like the new community cafe has always been there!

Crepes and Cakes in your cafe

Emma Dale and Wally Webb

North Lodge Park Community Cafe open for business

Your support, individuals and businesses, has allowed us to bring you your community cafe – from a dirty empty shell to a fully fitted and working cafe – in a week, opening last Friday 7th August.

It was an early start on Friday when Wally Webb (BBC Radio Norfolk) came at 7.30am to interview us, followed by an interview with Dick Hutchinson from Radio North Norfolk.

After the opening drinks (Elderflower champers),

Jack formally opens the cafe

opening speeches were followed by the formal tape cutting by Jack and we were up and running and haven’t stopped since. Drinks, Cakes and Crepes have been flying out the door. The team are learning fast how hard it is to run a cafe!

It’s very hard to believe that it was only 10 days ago that we had the keys and started the painting – so much has happened in that time. As well as the cafe, the gardening volunteers have tidied up the gardens around the cafe, and in the Rose Garden.

We hope to open the cafe 7 days a week, but that needs your support – helping in the cafe or baking cakes for the cafe – come in and talk to the team to discuss how you can help your cafe work. Without your continued support it’s going to be hard work for the few.

In addition, the gardeners need your support – if you can help – or if you have some good tools to donate – get in touch friends@northlodgepark.org.uk or speak to someone in the cafe.

Jazz and Tea at 3 on Friday

To celebrate the end of the first week, this Friday afternoon (14th August) we will be in party mood with live jazz music at the cafe – do come and help the celebrations.

If you have other ideas for special events do let us know.

We had an amazing amount of crockery and cutlery donated by you, and we are really grateful – without it we wouldn’t have been able to open the cafe so quickly – we really were overwhelmed. However, the cafe is only big enough for a selection of your donations. Those items we are unable to use, we intend to sell from a stall outside the cafe next weekend (Friday to Sunday) with any money made going towards the Park. After Sunday we will donate any remaining items to a local charity. (If you would rather retrieve your donations please let us know before Friday.)

I really hope to see you soon in the cafe, either as a customer, or as one of the growing team of helpers.

 
Barry Meadows
Barista in training

Friday 7th August started early with a 7.30 visit from Wally Webb (BBC Radio Norfolk), an 8.30 interview on Radio North Norfolk, and some final preparations.

Tony Knight kicked off the formal opening at 10.15, with Tom Fitzpatrick (Leader on North Norfolk District Council and John Rest (also from NNDC) saying a few words. Emma Dale finished off the speaches before Jack formally announced the cafe open and cut the Ribbon.

Please send us any pictures you have of the opening day and we’ll add the best ones to the gallery.

North Lodge Park Cafe

Crepes and Cakes to open 10am 7th August 2015

There is only one word for how you have responded to our call for help in getting the cafe open: amazing.

You have responded with enthusiasm and energy – both the local community and visitors, many of whom come regularly to Cromer and North Lodge Park.

The number of you who have donated the contents of your cupboards (and dining rooms) shows your passion for the Park.

After an unbelievable week your cafe in North Lodge Park will open this FRIDAY 7th AUGUST at 10am and then daily from 10am (we’ll probably shut Monday’s for a breather!)

To manage the opening on Friday (we’ll ‘cut the ribbon’ at 10.15), for the first hour we will not be serving the usual fare, but will serve opening drinks and samplers outside, with the cafe opening at 11am.

Whilst the cafe has been overhauled ready for the opening, we still need to establish some of the working processes so please be gentle!

Many of you have offered to bake for the opening – many many thanks; please can you let us know tomorrow what you are baking, and deliver your cakes, labelled, as early as possible.It would be very helpful if some of you could bake your cake(s) not for Friday but for either Saturday or Sunday to help us cover this first weekend.

We need to establish longer term plans for baking. Those of you who would like to become part of the baking team (we will pay for all ingredients), please let us know so we can establish a proper system that conforms to the regulations within which we need to operate, and maintain appropriate supplies to the cafe. Whilst this has to be a fun project for us all, it needs to be fit and proper.

If all goes well over the coming weeks, we will establish proper commercial systems to reward our baking team. Let’s get the cafe open and the summer rush behind us to give us some space to think.

Many of you have offered to help by working in the cafe, again we need to establish a proper process (and rota), for this and ensure you are all upto speed with the regulations and processes. We have some of your names already, we need to formalise this quickly to ensure you all know what you are doing when. Please come and talk to us as soon as you can.

In some ways the excitement of the last week will, in hindsight, be the easy part – we now need your help to keep your cafe open for the next 4 months (the length of our current licence) and hopefully beyond. As well as your custom (I’m sure the Crepes and Cakes will keep you coming) we will need your ongoing help running the cafe – you wanted the cafe, we now need your help to keep it.

We are discussing with NNDC parts of the Park for us to manage – we are already giving the once over to the gardens around the cafe, we will need your help (and donations of good useable gardening tools) on this as well. This week we are focussing on the cafe and this has shown what a positive change you can make.

Hope to see you soon.

Barry Meadows

Thanks to your amazing generosity the cupboards are now full of cutlery and crockery so please before bringing any more please check with us to make sure – just email us on friends@northlodgepark.org.uk and we’ll let you know.

Many thanks

Barry Meadows

To improve the environment around the Cafe in the Park, every evening this week from 6.30 there will be a volunteer gardening team beavering away,  Weeding, deadheading, pruning and general tidying – the more people who come to help the better so put on your gardening gloves, bring your tools and dig in.

It is only 4 days since we were given the licence for the Cafe in North Lodge Park by NNDC and the transformation is amazing, as is the support from you all.  It is definitely your cafe.

The cafe will be serving  ‘crepes and cakes’, keeping it simple.

The number of people that have been to help, brought in their spare cutlery and crockery, tables and chairs just proves the passion you have for getting the cafe back up and running.

And then Shane Scarff, family and friends turned up to give the hedges at ‘our end’ of the Park a haircut – just another amazing transformation (they certainly put Kier to shame with their efforts here and elsewhere across Cromer).

We’re on target for opening on Friday – still lots to do getting ready, and lots of things needed to equip the cafe – such as a small chest freezer – ice creams are bound to be a hit over the summer so we need to be able to keep them cold!

I think it’s time to think about the publicity…

See you soon.