Cafe Sobar awarded a NatWest Social & Community Capital Grant

Local social enterprise, Cafe Sobar, has been awarded a grant by the Natwest Social & Community Capital Coronavirus Fund, to support it to re-open following closure due to the coronavirus crisis.

Cafe Sobar is a well-loved independent business and social enterprise in Nottingham city centre, set up by local charity, Double Impact Services, to provide work experience and a safe social space for local people in recovery from addictions. It hosts several recovery groups and regular events aimed at the recovery community and their families and friends, and helps people to gain confidence and new skills through its voluntary scheme. It’s welcoming and laid back atmosphere make it a firm favourite with families, community groups, people from different cultural backgrounds and indeed anyone who welcomes the choice to socialise without the pressures of alcohol.

Being heavily reliant on regular patronage by the general public, the prospects for the enterprise looked bleak when it was forced to close in March 2020 and lost all its trading income overnight.

Manager, Jason Loftus says

“We’re so happy that we have received this support from the Natwest Social & Community Capital Coronavirus Response Fund, this, together with support from the city council, will really help us to make ends meet as things slowly return to some kind of normality over the next few months. We want to get back to supporting people in recovery from addiction and welcome our many community groups and regular customers back as soon as we can – we’re proud that we’ve been recognised as a valuable business that has a role to play in regenerating activity and bringing life into the city centre, following such a difficult time for everyone.”

Social & Community Capital is a charity funded and supported by NatWest in order to help social enterprises and community businesses.