Kemi Badenoch, MP for the Saffron Walden constituency, recently paid a visit to Café Cornell based in Saffron Walden.
The Café is part of the Enterprise East Group CIC which was founded in 2017 by Samantha McReynolds with the aim of helping individuals build skills, confidence, employability, and social inclusion. Over the last seven years the charity has grown into a diverse and dedicated team of over fifty staff and volunteers. The organisation was awarded a King’s Award in 2023 for their exemplary volunteer work.
The charity provides opportunities for individuals with learning, physical and sensory disabilities, poor mental health, ex-offenders, those overcoming addiction, care leavers, those experiencing homelessness, and low-income families.
Enterprise East currently operates five social businesses within the local area: Café Cornell, the Cornell Salon, and Cornell Health and Beauty in Saffron Walden, and Sandy’s Diner and the Tea Leaf tearoom in Great Dunmow. These businesses run a broad range of programmes and events for the local community, from Meet-up Mondays - where anyone can drop in, to a ‘Memory Lane’ café for those living with dementia. The Café is opening up a ‘refill shop’ in the coming weeks, selling non-packaged goods with the aim of reducing waste within the community.
Mrs Badenoch attended Café Cornell whilst the singing group was practising and performing, and spoke to founder Samantha about the opportunities and barriers that the charity has faced in recent years. The difficulties of the pandemic, whilst serving as a challenge to Enterprise East Group, as with businesses across the country, saw the organisation adapt and grow, setting up Sandy's Diner, a pop-up takeaway and delivery service.
Residents can learn more about the work of Enterprise East Group and Café Cornell by visiting, www.enterpriseeast.org and www.cafecornell.co.uk
Commenting, Mrs Badenoch said:
“An excellent visit to Café Cornell, a café committed helping to tackle social isolation in Saffron Walden.
“It has quickly become a community hub, with the many outreach events on offer, all whilst supporting and providing opportunities for individuals to build confidence and new skills.
“Thank you to Enterprise East founder Samantha McReynolds and everyone at the café for showing me around, I will definitely be back!”
