South Manchester is full of coffee shops, but few hold a torch to Grounded MCR. Not only does this bespoke trike in Levenshulme’s pretty Cringle Park offer top notch food and drinks, it’s a registered Community Interest Company. To qualify for that status, an operation needs to show proof it benefits its neighbourhood, and in more ways than great service and fantastic flavours. In this instance, that means a wife duo committed to training vulnerable adults with mental health difficulties in barista and hospitality skills.
“Our key focus is helping our community’s collective mental health, via free activities and events,” the team explain. “In the last two and a half years, we’ve created multiple free community events, from dog shows to sports days, yoga in the trees to a sauna in a wood fired horsebox; music therapy to walks with alpacas around the park and everything in-between. We’ve run reiki sessions, offered postnatal walks with mental health mates, and provided BollyFit classes for locals. Our programme is well attended and only getting bigger and better. We’ve helped isolated people forge new connections, introduced people from different age groups or socio-economic backgrounds to each other, acted as counsellors, and made new friends.”
Good ethics continue up the supply chain, too, with Grounded MCR buying coffee from a local roaster committed to paying good rates to the farmers responsible for actually producing this precious resource, while sweet treats are sourced from local suppliers only. Things are about to become even more impactful, too, with the development of a 40-foot shopping container café for Cringle Park. Once up and running, this will be a free activity and education-focused event space for the area, with the additional room used for a mini-allotment, gardening clubs, peer-to-peer support groups and a meeting point for sports teams, among other things.