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A £1,000 donation from Newbury Building Society’s Community Support Scheme has helped to keep the doors of a Wokingham community café open after a sinkhole on the road meant a lengthy diversion was in place for four months.

The diversion deterred locals from visiting the café by car, causing customer numbers to plummet. Nic Lander, owner of the Kimel Community Café, estimates that the business has lost around £8,000 because of the disruption.

In addition to serving food and drink, the Kimel Café provides valuable training experience and work opportunities for neurodivergent young people in the local area. The experience gained at the café allows the trainees to build their confidence and skills, acting as a stepping stone to mainstream employment. Nic continued:

”We started the café because I have three neurodivergent daughters and when I looked at what provisions were out there for them for when they were ready for work, what was there didn’t seem fit for purpose, so we set up the Kimel Foundation to help youngsters get into work. So far, our success rate is 84%, where the national average is just 16%.”

I later saw on local social media and in the press about the problems that the sink hole and traffic diversions had caused and the impact that this had had on the café. I contacted Nic about our Community Support Scheme and he immediately applied. I was absolutely delighted that Newbury were able to support Kimel Café and the incredibly important work they do with young neurodivergent people in the area.
Justine Ransom Branch Manager, Wokingham
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