Cafe JJ gets grant for new baked potato oven

Baked potatoes are back on the menu at an award-winning Darlington community café thanks to a four-figure grant from a regional employer.

The hot meal option returned after Café JJ, which operates out of Clifton Community Centre, received a £1,377 grant from The Banks Group to purchase a new oven.

The café serves around 100 people every Tuesday and is run by a dedicated team of people with learning disabilities.

Leah Kelly, project manager at Café JJ, said: "The self-confidence that our team members gain by working in our kitchen is just as important as the new transferable skills they’re learning.

"And it’s brilliant to regularly see how many of them come out of their shells and really blossom over the months and years they’re with us."

The team prepares all food from scratch each week and also makes lunches for one another to develop their skills and recipes.

Their previous baked potato oven broke down late last year, and with no spare capacity in the centre’s kitchen, the popular dish had to be taken off the menu until a replacement could be found.
Ms Kelly said: "We also provide a welcoming, warm space in which anyone can spend some time talking to friends old and new, and we know from what our customers tell us just how much of a difference this makes to their well-being when they might not otherwise be seeing many other people through their week.

"We don’t have a great deal of capital to work with, and when the old baked potato oven broke down, we knew it be a real challenge for us to buy a new one by ourselves.

"We’re really grateful to the Banks team for stepping in to help us once again and very happy to able to bring this very popular lunch option back to our menu."

The café was founded 18 years ago by Valerie and Joseph Hutchinson to give their learning-disabled son and his best friend a chance to gain catering experience.

The Banks Group has previously supported Café JJ with a £1,000 grant in 2021 to help cover rental costs.

Kate Culverhouse, community relations manager at The Banks Group, said: "Café JJ is a brilliant project that has much more of a positive impact across the local community than just the lovely meals made and served by its talented team.

"It’s a wonderful place for people to spend some time while they’re enjoying their weekly lunch and we hope even more local residents will pop along on a Tuesday lunchtime to see what’s on the menu."

In addition to serving lunch, Café JJ offers a warm and friendly environment for people to gather before the café opens, helping to reduce social isolation, particularly among older residents.

The Banks Group’s community funds are independently managed by Point North (formerly the County Durham Community Foundation).

Funding is available to projects in areas where The Banks Group operates.

Interested groups can apply via the company’s website to see if they are eligible for support.