To celebrate a whole week of ‘crepes a
nd 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!
North Lodge Park Community Cafe open for business
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
North Lodge Park Cafe Opens
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 will open on Friday 7th August at 10am
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
We’re Full Up
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
Gardening in the Park
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.
NLP Cafe day 2 update.
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.
Cafe update
Thank-you for the help, offers of support and donations of equipment for the cafe.
Today the team worked like billy-o: the inside was given a bright new look; the kitchen area thoroughly cleaned and painted; the outside rubbed down, filled, repaired, primed and undercoated.
There are too many names to thank individually – you know who you are so THANKS. And they say you can never find a plumber when you need one – it’s not true Dwaine (wrightpandhltd.co.uk) heard via the facebook grapevine what we were doing and gave us half a day of his valuable time.
Tom Fitzpatrick from NNDC came to offer his support and pose for the photograph when the EDP team came (they didn’t do any painting).
We made lots of new friends and are well on target to open on Friday.
We still need help to get ready so if you have time do come down to the cafe on Sunday or Monday; and we still need lots of equipment for the cafe so please keep thinking about what you have spare.
Hope to see you soon
North Lodge Park Cafe will reopen next week
It’s your park – it’s your cafe
It will take a while for NNDC to determine the best long term plans for North Lodge Park following last week’s closure of the transfer project, but at a meeting we had with them yesterday they said they are keen to see some action in the Park quickly.
To support this they have offered the Friends an immediate 4 month licence to run the cafe; all money made will be for the Friends to use on the Park. This was one of your priorities so we have accepted the offer and now need your help to make it a reality.
We have the keys, and have made an initial inspection. The interior of the building is in quite a good state and a quick once over with paint will make it usable. The exterior is in a poor state, but for such a short term licence can be made good with some paint and careful filling. NNDC have offered to provide us the decorating materials so we’ve no excuse not to get on with it.
This weekend we will be working on the cafe: if you have some time please do come along and grab a paint brush – how ever much or little time you have. It is your cafe and we really do need your help to make it a success for the Park.
We also need your help in equipping the cafe – it is an empty shell. We all have odds and ends in the cupboards and we’re sure that together we can equip it without the need for too much expense.
In terms of running the cafe we will need (in no particular order, and by no means a complete list): Cutlery….knives, forks, dessert spoons, tea spoons, serving spoons; Crockery…side plates, large plates, tea cups, saucers, serving dishes, bowls; Glasses; Teapots; Kitchen utensils…..wooden spoons, knives, cake slicers, tongs Trays Sugar bowls/ dispensers; Milk jugs; Water jugs; Cake domes/ covers; Cafetieres; Plastic table cloths; Washing up bowl; Ramekins for butter and jam; Tupperware, all sizes; Flower vases; Dustpan and brush; Broom; Mop and bucket; Tea towels; Parasols Tables and chairs ( inside and outside); Bookcase; Bin. Please dig out what you can (there are bound to be other things we have forgotten) – it will all help us get up and running quickly.
In addition, there are some bigger items we will need, such as Fridge, Freezer, Microwave, Kettles, Coffee machines, Water urn. And a first aid kit.
Please look around to see if you have anything that could help; or ask your friends and neighbours.
If you can help with any of these items for your cafe, please let us know, bring them to the cafe on Monday, or let us know and we will come and collect.
Cakes and Crepes
We plan to keep everything simple so will be offering ‘cakes and crepes’ along side drinks and ice-creams. There is lots to plan, and lots to discuss. If all goes well we hope to open next Friday 7th August, so it really is all hands to the pump from now this week!
We have been impressed with the way NNDC have responded so quickly. Within 24 hours they had bought and delivered all the materials we need to renovate the cafe, completed the licence, and had the cafe electricity checked for compliance. We are also very grateful they are covering all bills for the 4 months so this will help us create some profits to feed directly back into the park.
We know that there is much more to the Park than the cafe, and we will be updating you with other opportunities we discussed with NNDC as soon as we get the cafe plans underway.
Barry Meadows
Secretary, chief cook and bottle washer, Friends of North Lodge Park
North Lodge Park: Plan B
Another twist in the saga
To be honest the twists in the saga of North Lodge Park this week caught us all by surprise, but we hope this marks the start of a positive phase for the Park after the frustrations of the past months.
For those of you who didn’t hear this week’s news: North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) kept strictly to their published deadline for the transfer, and as the Town Council hadn’t completed the transfer by 21st July the project was stopped. We understand this means that Cromer Town Council will not be taking ownership of the Park.
At this moment we don’t really know what this means for the Park, but hope to get some clarity on the situation over the coming days. We can’t even begin to speculate on what will happen next, we hope NNDC take account of the community view and that they will be prepared to work with us positively. I’d like to say watch this space, but I’m not sure it’s worth watching at the moment.
OK, watch this space.
Barry Meadows
(Confused and bewildered) secretary Friends of North Lodge Park