A cafe that does more than just serve food will be celebrating its grand opening in Leavesden Country Park tomorrow.

The Woodlands Café, at One YMCA Woodlands Community HUB in the park, has been refurbished and will reopen with a special launch event from 10am to 2pm.

There will be performances from the Watford Music Gym, as well as guided bike rides around the park, led by the Leavesden Cycle HUB. Park Ranger Emma Drake will be hosting various nature activities, talks and colouring sessions in the HIVE.

There will also be prize giveaways throughout the day, including a family ticket to Warner Bros. Studio Tour, and the café will be selling special Woodlands Café cupcakes featuring edible images of interesting locations around the park.

The reopening under One YMCA’s own banner allows it to maximise the community impact of the café.

Manager Carol Coe said: “Every cup of coffee makes a difference to someone in the local community, and every day is a charitable event. We want people to be able to come and enjoy the café for what it is, while knowing that all profit goes back into the charity.”

Simon Foden, Head of Enterprise at One YMCA, explained that the charity “has created a dynamic pathway to independence to allow people to get out of homelessness permanently”.

When a homeless person goes to a hostel, they learn all of the skills that they will need in daily life, and the Woodlands Café will be the next step in that journey, allowing them to apply those skills in a safe setting with the continuing support of the charity, enabling them to become self-sufficient and enter the wider workplace.

The Woodlands Café is a not-for-profit enterprise, so all of the profits generated will be fed back into the charity, allowing it to support more people who have been homeless.

“We are completely community-focused, so that the whole community can thrive within our environment,” said Simon.

The Woodlands Café also supports the rest of YMCA’s work within the area. Its community HUB has been operating in the park for three years and incorporates Charters Day Nursery.

Watford Observer:

Jo Tindale, nursery manager, and Caroline Saint, deputy nursery manager

The various spaces offer classes and activities including sessions from Airies Gymnastics Club, Irish dancing, yoga, tai chi, and art classes, and the rooms are available to hire for functions such as birthday parties.

Although Saturday’s main launch event takes place between 10am and 2pm, the café will be open during its normal weekend hours of 8am to 4pm, serving everything from cold drinks and pastries, to paninis, cakes, and hot drinks.

The café is also dog-friendly, and sell doggie ice creams from Jude’s, from which 5 per cent of the sales are donated to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Coffees are made with triple-certified organic Fairtrade arabica coffee beans, the purchase of which includes a donation to the mental health charity Mind.

The future is bright too. The team are already looking to open more cafés so that they can maximise their charitable impact.

Even though the Woodlands Café has only been open a few weeks, it is already evolving and improving their offerings.

Watford Observer:

Head of Marketing, Comms and Insight at One YMCA Donna Lawrie, pictured above, said: “We have been listening to what the community wants and have gradually been increasing the menu.”

Plans for the future include installing a new outdoor covered seating area, as well as the introduction of a Doggie Menu for the café – and One YMCA are always looking for new volunteers.

“I feel very lucky,” said Carol. “We have an amazing team. Ever since we opened, there has been a really nice atmosphere, and the team has soaked this up and it has given them the drive to continue this community project.”

Importantly, Woodlands Café will continue to contribute to the charitable endeavours of the One YMCA family.

Simon add “The fact that this is all supporting the wider charity and our local community – that is the most exciting bit.”

To find out more about One YMCA and the Woodlands Café, visit their website https://oneymca.org/woodlands-cafe/