Frome Town Council is inviting tenders to run the community cafe and associated community activities programme in Victoria Park from October 2026.
Community Partnerships Development Manager Hannah Stopford said: “Sam and Caroline have done a fantastic job, along with their dedicated group of staff and volunteers, and the cafe is held in high esteem by park users; FTC would like to thank the team for all their hard work. We’re now looking for someone to build on their success and take the cafe forward for its next chapter. We want the café to be welcoming and affordable, offering good-quality hot and cold food and drink, delivering its own events and hosting those of others, supporting the community and helping people discover local activities and projects. The lease is initially offered rent free, with an operating agreement to ensure it continues to offer excellent community benefit.”
Caroline Blake of Cultivating Communities, who have run the cafe since 2022, said:
‘It’s been an amazing four years building this project and really seeing the community engage with the park and support the cafe. The workskills training we have done with volunteers and a number of local schools including Critchill School and Newbury Manor have been the highlight for us. This June, three of the Newbury Manor pupils got their food hygiene certificates and we could not have been prouder of all their hard work ‘
A regular cafe user, who visits the cafe after playing tennis said “We love it – wonderful smiling faces and vegan sausage rolls and cheese scones to die for!”
The Cultivating Communities team will run the Victoria Park cafe until October 2026, alongside a calendar of activities including macrame and painting workshops, ‘nature detective’ activities, chair yoga, dancing and singing groups, film screenings and a busking showcase, all set to take place in the coming weeks. The cafe is open and serving hot and cold drinks, snacks and lunches Monday to Sunday, 8am to 5pm (the schedule may alter in bad weather)
Find out more about the cafe’s summer events calendar on Facebook at Victoria Park Community Cafe or by dropping in during opening hours.
Read the tender document and find out how to express an interest in running the cafe next season at tinyurl.com/ftc-contracts-tenders.
