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Directors of The Look In fear it could close for good if £50,000 isn't found to help it relocate
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Look In Café could close unless £50,000 is raised

By Becky Barnes
February 22, 2013

A not-for-profit café earmarked for demolition could close altogether unless volunteers can raise £50,000 to move premises.

The Look In Community Café for the over-50s must vacate Broadway by June 4 to make way for the town centre regeneration.

Its directors fear the service could close for good unless people in Bracknell get behind a fundraising drive and help raise the cash.

Pensioners march through town to save Look In

Director Terry Pearce said: “It would be a real loss if it went and we would be badly missed, but we are determined to carry on.

“We are confident we can get the money we need.”

The café was run by Bracknell Forest Council until volunteers took over in 2010.

Closure of 'lifeline' cafe would be a disaster

Terry continued: “It is extremely important for the over 50s and for a lot of lonely older people as well as The University of the Third Age (U3A) and local groups.

“It is a very popular place with around 100 people coming in each day.”

Volunteers have found new premises on the upper level of Charles Square, which they hope to take on a 12-month lease from Bracknell Regeneration Partnership.

It is estimated the lease, legal costs, the move and refit will cost in the region of £50,000, but the organisation has already secured £25,000 from Bracknell Forest Council, Bracknell Town Council and its own reserves.

Terry said: “We really hope we can make the rest from a variety of sources such as local businesses and other community groups.

“When The Look In was threatened with closure in 2010 the level of public support was massive. Again, we need your support.”

Directors were due to meet yesterday evening to discuss launching a campaign they may call the Look In Survival Fund.

Terry said: “There is a lot of goodwill in this town so we are very hopeful.

“After we finalise the legal aspects we are hopeful it will be weeks rather than months.

“Bracknell needs a community facility in the town centre and we are committed to ensuring that The Look In continues to serve the older population.

“Every bit of money that comes in is ploughed back into the café.”

Volunteers want to hear from anyone who can contribute to the survival fund. Visit the café and speak to the manager or email Terry at pearcefulham@aol.com.

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Tom, route was investigated but I wasn’t totally aware there was already a paid manager there. Not really very PC for MBW to go offering that job to someone else before even discussing it with the manager (he emailed us both with your idea and more). Not sure I would have wanted to go down that route with it being where it’s going to be. Totally inappropriate if you ask me. Lifts not working and slope or escalators are both steep so those poor souls won’t be able to safely get up there. Hopefully we are all going to be wrong but I can’t see them lasting which will be sad.

HK, bracknell
04/03/2013 at 08:21

they must be crazy to sign up for this space! Are the trustee's liable if the cafe cant cover its rent and costs?

They should just close down or look to team up with someone else!

Tom Edwards, Bracknell
03/03/2013 at 12:54

I was in Bracknell during the week and took the opportunity to have a look where the new premises are situated.

I went to use the lift but there was a sign saying they were out of order. They have obviously been out of order for some time as they were also encased in steel plate presumably to prevent vandalism. The lifts are actually in a deep alcove out of sight from the square and I imagine any person with a nervous disposition is never going to use them. In there current position you couldn't get much closer to a muggers paradise.

I walked up the ramp and while I had no problems with the steepness of the incline I am reasonably fit and can see a lot of our less mobile friends struggling. Casting my mind back to my youth I tried to imagine going down it in one of my soapbox carts but didn't hold out much hope of getting round the hairpin bend. I don't think this ramp was ever designed for the modern mobility scooter.

I returned to terra firma via the escalator and the only thought that entered my head was of the steepness of the flight and, no doubt in my mind still flying around Bracknell in my trusty soapbox, how inviting that emergency stop button might appear to some youngster with the ensuing tumbling of bodies to the bottom.

I cannot remember who found this place for The Look In, was it an estate agent or similar? No one with a modicum of sense would suggest it in it's present form.

timespassing
28/02/2013 at 13:32

Good points HK!

If they have had rent free premises and over 100 people a day and run with volunteers then it may well be worth a look over the accounts to see how the profits have been invested

The voice of reason
27/02/2013 at 12:24

Hear hear re. your comments on BFVA and the people running it Tom. In my admittedly limited experience with them they are only looking at community ideas that guarantee BFVA an income - and not really giving a hoot about those who genuinely want to be involved in community and voluntary schemes. My run-ins with them left me very sceptical and cynical about their motives.

Which is a shame and a loss for the wider community in Bracknell.

Winstanley, Bracknell
24/02/2013 at 17:27

This is an idea that is worth looking into. However, I paid a lot of money to take over the cafe from the previous person so am loathed to give that up as it would mean me basically being a hell of a lot of money out of pocket as I doubt very much that I'd be able to sell the good will onto anyone else at this present time. I have had an email from MBW which he has also passed onto Terry. I await the next move to discuss the idea. I am open to all ideas to be honest. I'd love to have a place like the Look in but would have to seriously think about everything such as the lease etc. I can't see the point of ploughing over £50,000 into something that is only on a year by year basis. Watch this space I guess. My rent at the moment is a few pence off £63 per day. Shows how much I have to take each day just to break even and when you're lucky to take £200 in a day, once you've re-stocked and paid one wage (my other staff are bored helpers believe it or not!) then it means you're running close to the line every day. You're right Tom, many of my customers are frequent users of the Look In and wouldn't it be nice to be toasty each day rather than being wrapped up in 4 layers of thick clothes and still have freezing toes. Makes you wonder about our sanity as we've chosen this life! It's more for the community spirit rather than money for me but money would be nice lol

HK, bracknell
24/02/2013 at 17:05

Surely this is where the massively funded BFVA and the overpaid Martin Gillman should show they are worth every penny of tax payers money.

A) Find them the money or a path to funding the right funding B) help them understand the situation that the Committee will face if they sign the lease they cannot afford .... they will no doubt have to put their own homes up for guarantee’s on the money?

Hazel - I have a FANTASTIC Idea but I fear you will say no without thinking about it ….. ..... why don’t YOU take on the cafe, they charity could pay you as a manager, or give you a share of the profit, you would have all the clients from the Look-in, plus a warm indoor space with plenty of passing traffic and loads of parking a stone’s throw away .... you get better facilities, more customers and would perhaps even make more money than you are paying now? What’s your rent at the Market? £50 per day? £100 per day? As a Charity you could avoid rates and the food you serve would be miles better than the other overpriced rubbish they serve downstairs? It would mean probably opening 5 or days a week? Your comments about “where have the profits gone” are spot on!!! With your background at the market, having a food offering at the lower, more affordable end of the price range, would give you the ideal background and knowledge to make this place a success!

Tom Edwards, Bracknell
24/02/2013 at 16:35

I'm glad the Look In has found new premises and will continue to provide this service to our elderly citizens. I do wonder though about the directors and their experience in this field. £50,000 and a possible 12 month lease works out at nearly £1,000 per week without other overheads such as staff wages, utility bills, etc and that is before you sell one cup of tea. Is there an option to renew the lease at an agreed sum or will the Look In be asking for more donations this time next year

I will always dip my hand in my pocket for a worthy cause and might even be tempted to turn up with a paintbrush on the odd weekend. I will not however throw cash into a black hole much less try to paint one. A little more information would be good.

timespassing
24/02/2013 at 15:05

I think HK raises some important points overall. I'm a big supporter of local voluntary initiatives that support our community - whether in niche areas or more widely. But they have to be financially viable.

And equally we need a local government, and their regeneration partners, to be a little more considerate and accountable to traders of all sizes. Unfortunately we have a clique of officials and private sector 'management' who have had their feet under the table for far too long and who (as the saying goes) 'know the cost of everything but the value of nothing'.

But all good things must come to an end. Anyone remember the '97 election and the highlight of the evening? The Portillo moment?

Buckle up Bracknell - we have the good fortune to have local and general elections on the same day in 2015. Maybe the new MP and councillors will declare a public holiday for the long suffering citizens of our great town.

Winstanley, Bracknell
23/02/2013 at 23:24

I wish you luck, and do have faith that BRP will deliver for you guys too....

WhySoSerious, Bracknell
23/02/2013 at 22:11

I do support the Look In as it's valuable service to the over 50's but putting it where they are going to, I feel could deter the less able customers from going there. The ramp is very steep and I'm not sure how large the lift is i.e. would a large mobility scooter fit in it? Perhaps I'm wrong and worrying about these folk for nothing. I'd hate for one to come off their scooter half way down the slope as some of them seem to have nitro packs fitted to their scooters!!

HK, bracknell
23/02/2013 at 20:09

I can't wait for the regeneration to happen! Just bitter about how BRP and the council are treating us traders and the other poor sods who have been hiked out of their businesses in the town. Small traders are being hit the most (town shops that is) so why shouldn't we be bitter? I know you have to break eggs to make an omlette but don't kill the chickens that lay the eggs or you will have nothing left at the end. It seems BRP and the council can say and print what they like and never think of the consequences - like when they posted on facebook and twitter that the market was closed when it wasn't. Were we offered our rent back because of it? No, and not even a personal apology to anyone. Is it any wonder I/we are bitter. Perhaps we should sit back and say/do nothing. That's what the majority of people in this country do and then wonder why it's in the state that it is now.

HK, bracknell
23/02/2013 at 19:59

.......Says the person that seems to be most bitter about the Regeneration out of EVERYONE is Bracknell....

WhySoSerious, Bracknell
23/02/2013 at 19:11

Just to add, how much money can be ploughed into a business in 3 years? I only ask as this is apparently where all the profit has gone. A little daft when they knew they would have to close for the regeneration. Perhaps if they had saved their money rather than wasting it, they wouldn't have to be asking for more. Sorry, but someone had to say it.

HK, bracknell
23/02/2013 at 16:27

I fail to understand that if this Look In Cafe has been run for the past few years on a free rent basis and all the staff are volunteers – where has all the profit gone from the food they sell? If anyone tells me it is non profit making then I simply will not believe them. I scrape through at the market even when I do pay wages and I believe I am cheaper than the Look In for many things. Just thinking out loud! I am now concerned that many of their customers who will now have to go to the new location will come a cropper, or worse, pedestrians, when they lose control of their mobility scooters and plough into people. Again, just thinking out loud. Will these new premises be rent free?