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Homeless charity's profitable cafe ready to expand

Alex Popein Rushden
News imageAlex Pope/BBC Stan Robertson, standing in a cafe, wearing a purple shirt, with a black apron, with cafe equipment behind him. He is smiling, with yellow-framed glasses on, a grey beard and short greying hair. Alex Pope/BBC
Stan Robertson said one of the personal highlights of running the cafe had been witnessing the popularity of his homemade sausage rolls

A charity cafe that opened in July is looking to expand after it made a profit in the first month of trading.

Café 16:15 in Rushden, Northamptonshire, was started by Stan Robertson, a former rough sleeper, as part of Project 16:15, which aims to help homeless people in Northampton.

He said the self-funding eatery, run entirely by volunteers, has paid for two more outreach workers and was already "part of the community".

He said the next step was to open another cafe in Wellingborough, and then a drop-in centre in Northampton.

News imageAlex Pope/BBC Linda, sitting on the left of a small oval table, smiling and looking at the camera, with food and a coffee in front of her. Her husband Peter is to the right, holding a sausage roll and looking at the camera. Linda is wearing jeans, a black coat, has a black and white scarf round her neck, has long hair and is wearing glasses. Peter has on glasses and is wearing dark clothing. He has an earring in his left ear. Alex Pope/BBC
Linda Nightingale, with her husband Peter, travelled from Raunds to have lunch and a "lovely coffee"

"We were in profit in our first month and we haven't looked back really," said Mr Robertson.

He said all money raised from the cafe, in Hamblin Court, goes back into the charity which has meant it has funded additional volunteers to do welfare and outreach work in Northampton.

"It's grown steadily. We've become well-established in such a short space of time. We've really become part of the community," he said.

Linda Nightingale, from Raunds, made a special point of visiting the cafe to taste the "famous sausage rolls" when she came on a pensioners' trip to Rushden.

"It's a fantastic idea; it's word of mouth that has spread the news that it is such a lovely, welcoming, bright, wonderful facility," she said.

She said she would be back as "the prices are so good".

News imageAlex Pope/BBC Shirley Heard, sitting in a cafe, wearing a green jumper and cream scarf. She has short red hair, and silver earrings. Long, coloured net curtains are behind her - green, red, blue and orange. She is looking at the camera. Alex Pope/BBC
Shirley Heard loves to pop in for some soup and said she was happy the charity was able to help so many people

Shirley Heard, a keen supporter of the charity from nearby Irchester, said she was now a "regular" at the cafe.

"I like the company, the food is good and it's a bonus helping others," she said.

"I like to give him [Stan] a bit extra so he can put it into the charity and the other week I donated a sleeping bag."

Lorna, from Northampton, volunteers a few days a week so she can "meet new people" and work within the community.

It was her chance to "give back", she added.

News imageAlex Pope/BBC David, sitting at a table, wearing a blue shirt, with a dark beard and short dark hair. He is smiling and looking at the camera. Alex Pope/BBC
David Gillings is now a regular in the cafe and said the food was always "nice quality, and good-sized portions"

David Gillings, from Rushden, said: "Through my work I'm aware what Stan does in Northampton and I saw that he was opening up over here so I came to support the charity.

"It's brought an empty unit back into use, Stan's great, the volunteers are great and it's great quality food."

News imageAlex Pope/BBC Stan working in the cafe, leaning over and cleaning a table, with items on it. He is side-on to the camera wearing an apron, purple top. He has tattoos on his right forearm. Alex Pope/BBC
Stan said all the food was made on the premises and the rest was sourced from local suppliers

Mr Robertson said: "This is only phase one of a three-year plan.

"My next phase is to open the same thing in Wellingborough and then we want to open a drop-in facility, so the cafes are being established to help fund the future plans as well."

The cafe reopens on Saturday, 3 January after a short festive break.

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