The Arbury Social is open at the Meadows Community Centre, 9am to 2.30pm weekdays. Its profits fund Cambridge food projects, from holiday lunches to food hubs.

A new community café has opened at the Meadows Community Centre on Arbury Road. The Arbury Social cooks its meals from scratch using seasonal, surplus and locally grown food. It runs on a not-for-profit basis, so the money from every meal goes back into food projects around Cambridge.

Cambridge City Council announced the opening on Friday 25 September. The café is run by Cambridge Sustainable Food, a community interest company, in partnership with the council.

Where and when

According to the café’s own page:

  • Address: The Meadows Community Centre, 299 Arbury Road, Cambridge CB4 2JL
  • Open: Monday to Friday, 9am to 2.30pm
  • Also planned: special events, pop-ups and community meals

The page carries a sample food menu and a drinks and cake menu.

Where the money goes

The council says the café’s takings help pay for:

  • holiday lunch programmes
  • meals for local food hubs
  • community food events
  • getting surplus food to the people who need it most

Beyond the café itself, The Arbury Social will host shared meals, cookery sessions, pop-up events and volunteering. It will also run a pay-it-forward scheme.

A group of about a dozen people, some holding plates of food, standing together inside the new café at its opening. Green walls, pendant lights and the serving counter are behind them.
At the opening, from right to left: Cllr Amanda Taylor, Deputy Mayor of Cambridge; Cllr Katie Thornburrow, Leader of Cambridge City Council; Sam Dyer, chief executive of Cambridge Sustainable Food; Vicky Haywood of Cambridge City Council; Cllr Mike Todd-Jones, Cabinet Member for Communities; and the New Meaning Foundation team. Photo: supplied by Cambridge City Council

Who built it

The council paid for the refurbishment of the centre’s old café space. The work was done by New Meaning Foundation, a social enterprise that helps people gain skills, training and jobs.

“We’d love to see the cafe become a lively hub for the local community, where people can not only eat well but connect with others and feel part of something really positive,” said Sam Dyer, chief executive of Cambridge Sustainable Food.

Cllr Mike Todd-Jones, the council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “This project is about much more than a café.” He said the council wants everyone in Cambridge to be able to “access healthy, affordable food”.

A ready-meal project starts too

The opening also marks the start of a ready-meal project. Cambridge Sustainable Food is developing it as part of a joint programme with the council, funded by DEFRA. The meals will be cooked from scratch with local, seasonal and surplus ingredients. They will go out through local food hubs and social supermarkets.

The council says the project is also funded by Illumina, the genomics company, and supported by ibis Hotels Cambridge.

What it means for you

  • Want lunch? Drop in on a weekday between 9am and 2.30pm. Profits stay in local food projects.
  • Want to help? The café says it will offer volunteering. Ask at the counter or through Cambridge Sustainable Food.
  • Need food support? The ready meals will reach people through Cambridge’s food hubs and social supermarkets.

For what else is happening around the city, see things to do in Cambridge.