The Oldham cafe helping those 'written off by society'

Anna’s Community Cafe, which is located at St Herbert’s Court retirement living scheme in Chadderton, largely supports volunteers recovering from addiction alongside people with learning disabilities and the unemployed by giving them the opportunity to work in a kitchen and restaurant.

The cafe also gives volunteers experience in stock management and customer service, with the project paying for the volunteers to obtain food hygiene certificates and safeguarding training too, to ensure they’re ready for full-time work in hospitality.

Anna Kennedy, a fully qualified international chef, started the project back in 2022 having previously felt written off by society herself.

From left to right: Jodie, Tyler, Anna Kennedy and Fran all face issues but are now serving the community (Image: Oldham Council)

She was suffering battling alcoholism, drinking up to nine litres of whiskey a week, and had been classed as morbidly obese.

Anna said: “People used to reject me, so I know how it feels to be in their shoes.

“Doing this has not only helped me, it’s helped others as well and training these people and seeing them grow into what they are now is my biggest achievement.

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“I’ve trained people, who couldn’t even make a cup of tea or use a potato peeler, into chefs who can cook delicious meals such as roast lamb shanks, chilli, paella and chicken curry.”

Volunteers at Anna's Community Cafe now know how to cook healthy recipes, allowing them to eat right at home at a low price as well as their work to feed members of the community.

Anna said: “To see the community we have built here for the local residents is phenomenal as well, as it's our food that is getting people out and bringing them closer together, I love it."

From left to right: Mita, Sophie, Cllr Chauhan , Anna, Tyler, Jodie and Fran (Image: Oldham Council)

Among the cafe volunteers is 40-year-old Fran, who recently got involved after being introduced to the project by the drug and alcohol recovery service Turning Point.

Fran said: “I love it here, it’s great. I’ve got my confidence back speaking to people.

“When you’re in recovery, you can sometimes get tagged with that shameful stigma, but these people know where I’m from, they don’t judge me in any way, shape, or form, and it’s really filled my confidence.

“I'm helping to give local residents proper food as well so it’s nice to give something back.”

Another volunteer is Tyler, 21, who suffers from disabilities including epilepsy, autism and KBG syndrome, and struggled to even speak to others when he first started, but Anna has praised how much his confidence has grown.

Tyler, who struggles with disabilities, making a coffee for the Mayor (Image: Oldham Council)

Tyler, who has dreams to open up his own kitchen, said: "Anna has taught me everything, she's fantastic."

Anna's Community Cafe is made possible through a partnership between retirement living and extra care provider Housing 21 and local social enterprise organisation Wellbeing Improvement Fitness Initiative & Catering Service North West, who run Anna’s Community Cafe and the retirement living scheme's restaurant on behalf of the housing association.

The cafe gives residents and visitors of St Herbert’s Court a place to socialise and enjoy a healthy meal at affordable prices.

The Mayor of Oldham, Cllr Zahid Chauhan OBE, recently visited the cafe and praised the work which is going on.

Cllr Chauhan says the cafe helps people facing isolation (Image: Oldham Council)

He said: “This is a truly fantastic initiative that we have working down here, and it is one I would love to see rolled out across our borough.

“Through this partnership, we are seeing those often written off by society benefit being offered the chance to develop new skills, build their social skills and confidence, and become employment-ready.

“But not only that, we also have a thriving community hub where people come together to socialise and eat healthy and nutritional meals, instead of eating in isolation – with some residents coming from as far as Manchester because they like it here so much."

Cllr Chauhan has called on other local housing providers to visit Anna's Community Cafe and try to create similar schemes throughout Oldham communities.

Susan Delaney of Housing 21, left, with Cllr Chauhan and Anna (Image: Oldham Council)

The project continues to help the community in as many ways as possible, providing more than 1,700 meals for free to children across Oldham during the summer holidays.

Janice Crompton, Housing Services Manager at Housing 21, said: “We are delighted to be working with Anna and her team of volunteers. They do an amazing job supporting our residents at St Herbert's Court and residents across the wider borough too.

“This is a fantastic initiative, and we are proud to be a part of it so we echo the Mayor’s calls for this to be replicated and we hope it helps to meet and serve the needs of more residents living in Oldham.”