Newbury charity café shortlisted for £5,000 award

A popular charity-led café has been shortlisted for a community award.

Newbury-based Educafé has been shortlisted in the Problem Solving category of the For The People Award, following a nomination submitted by one of its volunteers.

Voting opened to the public on Monday, November 7, and will conclude on Sunday, November 20, with the winning community enterprise receiving a £5,000 prize to invest in future projects.

Educafé is an inclusive community hub committed to providing free and confidential pastoral care and educational support services every Wednesday at Newbury Library.

The café welcomes everyone from parents with young children, elderly residents, to West Berkshire's diverse ethnic communities. The group accommodates a high number of different nationalities including Czechs, Slovaks, Portuguese, Italians and Romanians.

Also, it has delivered a bespoke Ready for School English programme to 60 Ukrainian children and 40 adults, alongside ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) courses to Afghan and Hong Kong refugees over the past two years.

Educafé volunteer Saurabh Pandey, who submitted the nomination, said: "As an Indian immigrant and a volunteer, I can attest that Educafé is a valuable asset to the entire community".

Founder Clare Middelton, of The Berkshire School of English, said: "We are so honoured one of our volunteers took it upon himself to nominate us for this award. He did a lot of research into writing his nomination, including discussions with us.

"To win the award, people have to vote for us, so we are encouraging people to this and keeping our fingers crossed. The prize fund would be invaluable to our work."

The café's weekly attendance has grown exponentially since its inception and its social media traffic has increased by more than 85 per cent over the past 12 months, say the organisers.

But Educafé depends on donations to champion and sustain its community outreach. To vote for this, visit https://www.marshcommercial.co.uk/campaigns/for-the-people-awards-2022/problem-solving/saurabh-pandey

Contact info@educafeuk.co.uk or (01635) 936211 to attend, volunteer or partner with Educafé.

The café will be closed from December 7 until January 11, 2023.