Community café to trial meat-free Tuesdays

Next month, a community café in the Railway Village will be trialling a new venture with the launch of 'Meat-free Tuesdays'.

Throughout October The Baker's Cafe, Emlyn Square, will be offering 'Meat-free Tuesdays' to its customers.

The cafe, which officially opened in the heart of Swindon's Railway Village in April, is run by the Mechanics’ Institution Trust and local volunteers. Now each Tuesday the community cafe will be offering a range of vegan and vegetarian dishes created and cooked by nutritional therapist Alison Aldred.

Hannah Parry, Community Projects Manager for the Trust, said “We’ve been really keen to try out new things here and to make sure we serve everyone in the community, so we were really pleased when Ali came to us with this idea.”

Alison Alred added: “Whether you’re a meat eater or not, as a population we are eating far less than the recommended vegetables, so I’m keen to show people how this can be incorporated into a daily diet in easy, tasty and affordable ways.

"Many of the vegan and vegetarian options out there are highly processed and they don’t offer the nutrition that we all need. Poor levels of nutrition can lead to poor physical and mental health.”

Swindon alone has seen a rise in meat-free businesses including Indy's Vegan Kitchen - which recently launched Indy's Vegan Social in The Crossing - and V-Cuisine - which hosts a pop-up cafe in The Rolleston Arms. The Baker's Cafe hopes that due to the growing interest in meat-free products the scheme will prove popular enough to become a regular event.

Hannah said: “There’s quite a big meat-free community in Swindon and we wanted to make sure we were serving them as best we could, however the Cafe is keen to encourage those who do eat meat to come and try out some of the dishes too.

"For some people, they just want to reduce the amount of meat and animal products they eat and so these Tuesdays can be a great, easy way to do this, whilst not compromising on taste. As a meat-eater myself, and having tried Ali’s food, I can honestly say it had more flavour and I enjoyed it more than a lot of meat dishes you can buy when you’re out and about. When it comes to the vegan cakes, you can’t even notice the difference!”

The Baker's Cafe 'Meat-free Tuesdays' will take place every Tuesday throughout October from 10am to 12pm and 12pm to 3pm.

The Trust is also currently recruiting a Community Cafe Manager to oversee the day to day operation and development of The Baker’s Cafe. To find out more visit www.mechanics-trust.org.uk/jobs