New community café for Hollingdean

Residents in Hollingdean will be celebrating the launch of a new community café tomorrow (Saturday, June 27).

The new café, at Hollingdean Children’s Centre, will open every Saturday from 11am to 3pm for nine weeks, selling hot and cold drinks and cakes.

Run by volunteers, the café is being launched, in conjunction with the local “T in the Park” community picnic event run by Active for Life.

The café has been set up following requests from local residents who hope a weekend café at the centre will encourage more use of Hollingdean Park next door.

During the week a café is run by ‘The Bridge’ in the front foyer of the Children’s Centre, but until now the centre has closed at weekends.

Brighton & Hove City Council officers worked with members of the Hollingdean Development Trust, to set up the café for a trial period of nine weeks.

To help promote the new facility, volunteers have been busy organising other community initiatives over the summer months, including library events, a clean-up day organised by CityClean and “meet your local councillor” drop-in sessions.

If successful the café could pave the way for similar initiatives with community groups across the city.

Councillor Emma Daniel, Chair of the Neighbourhood, Communities and Equalities Committee said: “I am delighted that we have been able to work with residents and community groups to provide this new café which I’m sure will become a popular meeting place for local people over the coming weeks.”