New St Andrews community cafe to celebrate grand opening

The new St Andrews Community Cafe has been operating since late May, providing a place for people to socialise.

The project, based at St Andrews United’s Langlands Road ground, is open four days per week, giving out free food and running a number of activities for its users.

Project manager Jillian Anderson said the cafe was set up as a “safe place for people who are struggling a bit”.

“A lot of people come to St Andrews to retire, but I think some of them find themselves isolated,” she added.

“We realised there was a huge pool of people out there who had lost their community.

“Some people were horrified – ‘no, everyone is happy’.

“Sorry, but that ain’t true.”

The project itself is a real community effort.

Around a dozen volunteers give up their time to support it, while M&S and Pret a Manger donate food several times per week.

It means the project, which can get up to 30 users per day, can provide the food and services for free.

Jillian describes the service as a “one-stop shop” which, as well as being a safe space, also signposts services.

The grand opening will take place on Sunday, 2-5pm, with guest MP Stephen Gethins doing the honours, and is open to everyone in the community.

A ceilidh band will be performing at the event.

The service is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, between 9am-4pm.