Page 53 - Phonebox Magazine November 2014

Atmospheric and alternative: Olney’s new SoulTime Café brings something new to the table. As I walked through the door on the opening evening
of October 3rd, the SoulTime Café impressed me with its exciting atmosphere and great sense of personality. It is a real asset to the community. I was greeted by warm faces and fresh contemporary surroundings, all made possible from the help of the sponsors: Garfield Western Foundation, Olney Town Council, MK Community Foundation, the local Masons, Wards of Olney and Oxford Diocese, to name just a few. In addition, three members presented a film explaining the reasons for the creation of the SoulTime Café, and the work behind the scenes. It was entered into the ‘i-help’ competition, a youth community competition, and they were awarded second place for the whole team’s work on the project, for which they received £1000 helping to get the SoulTime Café moving forward.
But what is the SoulTime Café really all about I hear you ask? The SoulTime Café unites and creates a collective of young people that share the same drive - to improve the community and share in devising additional ideas to provide a safe, affordable and vibrant cafe in which they can relax with their friends. For the young volunteers, it has already provided them with the opportunity to engage with the community and improve their confidence, as well as providing valuable experience which can be used for future job applications and CV content.
Revd Claire Wood highlighted some of the challenges that the team has faced in launching the SoulTime Café, these included: Training on food and hygiene, agreeing a menu, and seeking ideas on layout for the café. It all came to a head when James Lomax from the Bull, kindly supported the project, and spent some time imparting skills and knowledge around work in the kitchen. The SoulTime team are extremely grateful for this!
The first visitors to the Café were Vasily Artemyev and Ethan Waller (pictured with Claire) of the Northampton Saints. Not only did they come and encourage the Café team, but even took time out to learn how to make milkshakes.
Alongside this great training has come some imaginative creations. When it comes to milkshake flavours, the team certainly experimented to the full, producing some innovative concepts, including mango and Oreo (not a favourite of Claire’s!).
The SoulTime Café is certainly one of a kind, so come down and find out for yourself which flavour YOU prefer, whilst supporting your local community. The Café is open every Thursday 4-6.30pm during term time. Get yourself down there! It’s good for the soul!
STOP PRESS: On Saturday 26th October the Church Hall was officially reopened by Mark Lancaster MP. See picture, right.
Olney’s Got Soul
‘I was greeted by warm faces and fresh contemporary surroundings, all made possible from the help of the sponsors’
Phonebox Magazine 53