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Community cafes and retailing

Community cafes provide healthy eating options at low cost, as well as a range of other community benefits such as reduced social isolation, skills development and increased local spending. CFHS has worked to improve the practice of community cafes through facilitating networking opportunities.

Community retailers (food co-ops, shops and other outlets) increase access to affordable healthy food as well as having a broader community role.

Our plan for 2022/23

CFHS is currently working with the Scottish Government, community food networks and our colleagues in Public Health Scotland to plan how the community food sector can be supported in the future.

News and updates

Cafes in communities

Posted: January 17, 2019
Are you involved in running a café in a local community (geographical or shared interest) run for local people and/or by local people on a ...

Self-evaluation programme for community cafes

Posted: April 24, 2018
Between August 2017 and March 2018 we worked with a small group of community cafes to look at self-evaluation.  Together they developed a list of community cafe ...

Community Food Social Enterprise Network and community retailers ‘sharing good practice’ sessions

Posted: April 10, 2018
Around 40 community food initiatives took part in an event on 7 March, run jointly by CFHS and Senscot. A community food social enterprise network ...

‘Take Five’ national community cafe networking event, 28 September 2017

Posted: February 14, 2018
'Take Five’ was the fifth national community café networking event run by/with Community Food and Health (Scotland). Around 30 people took part. Our event was ...

Community Food Social Enterprise Network and community retailers ‘sharing good practice’ sessions

Posted: February 1, 2018
Grassmarket Community Project Edinburgh Senscot and CFHS are running two sessions on 7 March for community food social enterprises and community retailers. The morning session will ...

New community retailing publications

Posted: February 1, 2018
Two new publications about community retailing are now available. Strengthening the future of community retailing is an accessible summary of research carried out for us in ...

Community café self evaluation group – outcomes to evaluate impact

Posted: January 11, 2018
We have been working with a group of community cafes to look at self-evaluation. Together they have developed a list of community cafe outcomes to reflect the range of ...

Community retailers get together to share good practice

Posted: November 2, 2017
Six community retailers met recently to share what was working well for them, their ideas for their community retailing services, and the challenges they were ...

Community café self-evaluation programme

Posted: May 8, 2017
Would you like your cafe to be able to demonstrate the difference it’s making to your staff, volunteers, customers and community? Would you like to be ...

Community cafe learning visits

Posted: April 26, 2017
In October 2016, CFHS held three community café learning visits. An infographic and short report about the visits, and their impact on the participants that took ...