It’s been a busy two months! Firstly, recent visitors will notice the Warehouse is looking pretty fine as we have now managed to complete the last major renovation stage: a refurbishment of the ‘Top Office.’ It’s looking lovely, a much better workspace and we owe a big debt of thanks to a lot of volunteers. Just two small rooms to go now – anyone not already ‘all painted out’ is welcome to come and help!
Secondly, we’re delighted to say the Warehouse Cafe is back up and running, as a worker co-op. We selected this operator because they proposed not only a quality vegetarian cafe but also a brilliant programme of the sorts of activist events and arts space that this building should be all about, with more of a ‘cafe bar’ feel in the evenings. The new team are now delivering on this promise – please come and check out the cosier atmosphere, the food, the beers and wines, the coffee, the radical bookshop, the stunning vegan baking, the workshops and the talks. It won’t disappoint.
Thirdly, another exciting new tenant is Well Rooted Wholefoods CIC – a new vegetarian and vegan wholefood shop in the old reception. Rachael and Susan stock a range of wholefoods, household cleaners, snacks and tinned goods, sourced ethically. They are also keeping Warehouse staff and tenants well supplied with flapjacks and are open Tues-Sat 10am – 5pm. And Sprocket is still here for all things bike-related so we have a nice little ethical retail row along the ground floor.
And finally, I’m back in the BFOE staff team on 1 – 2 days a week after a 16 year stint with Warehouse tenant Localise WM. My unofficial job title is “chief fixer, troubleshooter, painter, drain unblocker, gofer and dogsbody”. I’m loving it.
