Yesterday, I expressed my dismay and anger that Bwyd Da Bangor (Good Food Bangor), the ethically and environmentally sustainable café/restaurant run by North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC) and located on the high street of Bangor, is being forced to close.
NWRC were approached and commissioned to develop and maintain Bwyd Da Bangor, with the assurance of initial and ongoing financial support from Betsi Cadwalader University Health Board (BCUHB). The level of funding support originally identified as being necessary has not materialised, forcing NWRC to close Bwyd Da at the end of the month. There has been a strong public outcry in support of NWRC and the wonderful team at Bwyd Da.
In my last blog post, I provided information about the situation, which includes the incredible achievements of the Bwyd Da team and the impact it has been having on the local community. It has greatly inspired people further afield, including my friends and I here in Western Australia. I provided links to a document about Bwyd Da Bangor prepared by James Deakin and colleagues—which is important reading—and to a Bangor University website page describing the restaurant’s opening, aims and partners. I also linked to a YouTube film of Bwyd Da taken during their ‘Evening With David Clark’ where I gave two talks to community members.
Here, I provide further information from NWRC’s document and a link to a recently launched campaign, Save Bwyd Da From Unjust Closure, in which I hope you will participate.
‘Challenges Faced
The initial idea for Caffi Bwyd Da originated though Glynne Roberts, the Programme Director with Betsi Cadwalader University Health Board for Well North Wales, a multi-agency programme aiming to improve the health of the poorest communities in North Wales. The programme encompasses a number of innovative projects aimed at tackling health inequalities, such as developing proposals for health and wellbeing centres, food poverty, social prescribing and developing the Health Board’s contribution to tackling homelessness. Glynne Roberts had previously arranged a study visit for the representation of the multi-agency programme to the Crisis Café in London in the Summer of 2018 to explore suitable methods of structuring support provision in North Wales.
Following the visit to the Crisis Café, Glynne Roberts approached James Deakin of North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC), a charity based in Bangor Gwynedd which runs a rehabilitation programme for people with addictions to drugs and alcohol, as well as provides a range of abstinent accommodation.
NWRC was approached and subsequently commissioned to establish and run the café, with the assurance that a package of support funding would be provided to sustain the venture in the long-term. This was on the basis of key advice and guidance provided by representatives of the Crisis Café on the original study visit, who highlighted the challenges of running such a café and that such a venture, even in the centre of London, is likely impossible without subsidy support, mainly due to staffing costs which are essentially doubled by comparison to equivalent conventional business ventures. To be able to support the rehabilitation of vulnerable individuals with complex backgrounds and support them back into sustainable employment, there is also a need to financially sustain the activities of the café/restaurant through a second broader staffing team to facilitate the ongoing support and training.
The cafe initially opened with support that included £160,000 in Circular Economy Funding, with the location became a vital community hub during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite the initial assurance of ongoing financial support, which initially materialised to support the establishment of the café, the level of funding support originally identified as being necessary has not been materialised, and the possibility of obtaining additional/alternative funding has become increasingly challenging due to the grant arena being tight and the budgetary constraints being faced across the public sector intensifying.
Consequently, Bwyd Da Bangor is currently facing a financial deficit of some £176,000 in their required annual funding to sustain the venture.
It is important to highlight that Bwyd Da was originally designed and commissioned by BCUHB to be delivered as a multi-agency partnership involving BCUHB, Gwynedd Council, ADRA & North Wales Housing Association, with NWRC actually the last invited to take part. Following the reduction in funding available from BCUHB, the burden of providing most of most of the financial support has been left to Gwynedd Council. Whilst Gwynedd Council has been highly supportive of Bwyd Da, it is also recognised that they are also facing their own budgetary constraints and will not necessarily be able to sustain the level of support they have done historically.
Whilst the café can turn over £3000+ on a busy day, the cashflow has been severely impacted by the shortfall in funding from the involved agencies. All revenue generated is being used to supplement the social outcomes and rehabilitation activities undertaken by Bwyd Da Bangor. This has resulted in compromising the financial sustainability of the North Wales Recovery Communities charity, as well as placed immense personal strain on key individuals such as James Deakin who has on several occasions used personal funds to help ensure that employees are paid their salaries on time and that the café can continue to operate. After two years of operating in this way, it has come to a crucial juncture where decisions need to be mad about the future of the organisation.
- On the current trajectory, without receipt of additional financial support Bwyd Da Bangor is at significant risk of financial failure. Without additional support, it is likely to regrettably necessitate closing the café/restaurant, directly resulting in short-notice job losses to 18 staff members, a large percentage of whom are vulnerable individuals with history of homelessness, or are at risk of homelessness and/or substance misuse. The impact on each individual likely to be severe with substantial risk of regression and ongoing impacts on related service provision.
- Funding and contractual commitments are in place for the Food Surplus Club operations to remain operational as far as September 2024, however this would be on a stripped back basis and it is unlikely to be possible to sustain this activity without additional financial support going forwards.
- While the café/restaurant could remain as a purely commercial operation, this would only be possible by abandoning delivery of the social outcomes or rehabilitation activities. Supporting individuals in recovery to develop new skills and qualifications through paid employment means that staffing costs are at least 40% higher than comparable commercial ventures.
Measures already taken to improve sustainability
Over recent months a number of actions have been taken to minimise the operating costs of running the café and improve the financial sustainability, however such options are now all put exhausted:
- Caffi Bwyd Da has been separated from NWRC and is now a company limited by guarantee in its own right, primarily in order to safeguard the financial position of NWRC and to provide greater clarity in the function and activities of both entities.
- Regular meetings and engagement have taken place between Bwyd Da Bangor and representatives across the multiple supporting agencies to review the situation and update on developments.
- Monthly staffing costs have been reduced by some 20%, mostly by reducing hours as well as not backfilling vacant positions as they arise.
- Having previously employed 23 individuals, there are now: 5 individuals in the kitchen, 10 individuals front of house, and 2 in a food relief centre.
- Bwyd Da Bangor used to have a Volunteer Training Coordinator role, this position is now vacant.
- Reviewed main expenditure items identified any possible cost savings.’
Thank you for reading this.
Save Bwyd Da From Unjust Closure
My blog post, Save Bwyd Da From Unjust Closure