Di Gates and Leeanne Bennett who are opening a cafe and community room in Low Fell

Di Gates and Leeanne Bennett who are opening a cafe and community room in Low Fell

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A social enterprise with children and professionals in mind is poised to launch in the heart of Low Fell, and is seeking support from the community.

Leeanne Bennett and her partner Di Gates are preparing The Nest – a family-friendly cafe, play space and community rooms partly inspired by their young daughter Georgie.

The couple have already poured around £30,000 into the project to convert shop premises on Durham Road and are close to meeting a crowdfunding target of £2,500.

They hope to provide a daytime spot for parents to let their children play, meet other parents and also space for freelance and self-employed parents to co-work.

Around four staff will be recruited to help run the enterprise, alongside a team of volunteers.

Ms Gates, a self employed creative marketer by day, explained: “The idea – which really belonged to my partner Leanne – had been floating around for some time. We live in Low Fell which is a great area but with the loss of schemes like Sure Start, there is nowhere for families to go.

“There’s been a big culture change in recent years and we felt the connections between parents were in danger of getting lost. So, initially we set up a facebook page as a place for parents in our immediate area to connect. Within a matter of weeks we had more than a thousand followers – and that’s when we realised there was the potential for something.

“About five months ago we starting looking around for premises, and we found this place on Durham Road in August.”

The Nest will cover three floors of the Durham Road premises and will include a family-friendly cafe on the ground floor, serving food and drink and providing a play space for babies and children under five.

On the first floor Nest will host community rooms where a schedule of classes and workshops are planned including pregnancy yoga, breastfeeding support and business skills, through to arts, drama and music.

The space will also be available to hire for private parties.

The top floor will host flexible co-working space for freelancers, budding entrepreneurs and those who normally work from home.

So far funding has come from the couple’s own pockets, as well as support from Key Fund – an organisation that specialises in finance for social enterprises.

Ms Gates added: “We’re not going to be just a creche but a truely family orientated space. We know a lot of parents who earn a living on project work and often collaborate with one another. Nest is about creating a place for them, and we’re also hoping to run courses and offer advice on freelance and self-employed working – and the benefits it can bring for parents.”

Using crowdfunding platform indiegogo Ms Bennett and Ms Gates have earned the backing of parents in the area who are keen to use the facility.

The money will be used create a creative play area in the cafe which aims to offer a better experience to soft play, and to fund a kitty for families on low incomes to use towards free places on the activities The Nest will host.

To back The Nest, and for more information visit https:// www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-nest-cafe-community-rooms-low-fell#/