Keighley Cafe staff strike out on their own as independent concern (From Keighley News)
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Keighley Cafe staff strike out on their own as independent concern
10:00am Monday 28th January 2013 in News
Lynn Burns, from The Pop Up Travelling Tea Rooms, serves refreshments at the Feeling Better Together event at Central Hall in Keighley
Staff at a cafe in a Keighley community centre are striking out on their own.
Cafe Central will become an independent concern and launch a package of new attractions.
The cafe, at Central Hall in Alice Street, will provide catering training and work experience. It could also open after school for a homework club and during the evenings for young people to hang out.
Cafe Central is currently managed by the organisation that runs Central Hall – Keighley and Ilkley Voluntary Community Action (KIVCA).
Manager Tracey Thomas and her team asked KIVCA bosses for permission to turn the eatery into an independent concern. KIVCA staff, whose role is to support local voluntary groups, have helped Tracey through the process of becoming a social enterprise.
Within weeks it is likely to be officially designated a community interest company, with the staff – a mixture of paid workers and volunteers – as directors.
KIVCA support worker, Shaun O’Hare, said: “We’re right behind them. We recognise the cafe is the heart and soul of the building – we like it to be thriving.”
