Roehampton’s Hive Café Seeks Backing

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Launching a £20,000 crowdfunding bid to secure future

A £20,000 crowdfunding bid has been launched to expand and secure the future of the popular Hive Café at the University of Roehampton, which is part of the students’ union’s successful Growhampton project.

The café was launched a year ago this month by Putney MP Justine Greening, with funding from the National Union of Students’ Green Fund. It has been so successful that when the NUS grant ends in August, the students’ union intends to expand the café to cater for more local visitors.

To do so, it must raise £20,000 before 30 June. The students’ union is calling on all people living in Roehampton as well as students and staff who regularly use the café to show support.

News of the crowdfunding launch comes as the Mayor of Wandsworth, Cllr Stuart Thom prepares to visit the Hive Café on Thursday afternoon to see its progress since it was launched in May 2014.

Siobhan Kelly, President of Roehampton Students’ Union, said: “The Hive Café has been such a success; each month hundreds of people who live in Roehampton walk their kids to school through our campus and stop off for a coffee and our, organic food. If each of them, together with our students and uni staff, made a small pledge to support the café, it would help us create a bigger seating area for our customers and continue our food education work. It’s a great meeting place, our food is really healthy and the atmosphere is so friendly and relaxing. People love it and we need their help to keep it going.”

If you can support the Hive Café, visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/growhampton. Everyone who donates £5 will receive a free coffee, with further incentives for those able to give more money.

The café is a social enterprise which invests its profits back into the Growhampton project. Last year it won a national award from the Soil Association for the best organic eating out venue in the UK.

May 15, 2015