The friends of Kneller Gardens are hoping to raise £5,000 to renovate the pavilion café and make it suitable for the winter.
Kneller Gardens is in east Twickenham, just south of Harlequins’ Twickenham Stoop stadium, and is a pleasant park much loved by runners, cyclists and dog walkers.
The Pavilion Café, located in the centre of the park, is exceptionally popular in the summer months, with everyone from families to sports clubs enjoying its facilities.
But due to the lack of indoor seating, in the winter months the café can struggle to attract business.
Therefore the Friends of Kneller Gardens are looking to raise money to build an indoor seating area which will act as a warm, comfortable, welcoming community hub all year round.
On top of this, the money raised will also go towards building new shelving, increased storage space for community groups, kitchen equipment and community notice boards.
The Friends of Kneller Gardens also hope that following the renovation, the café will have better disabled access and will be more suitable for people with small children.
So far, the group have raised £3,786 and are optimistic about reaching their target.
One of the key targets for the group is to reduce isolation and loneliness in the winter months through the rejuvenation of the café.
On their fundraiser page it says: “There are some people within our community who find it difficult to go to the park in winter because of the limited facilities, putting them at risk of isolation from the rest of the community and stopping them from experiencing the beneficial physical and mental effects from being outdoors.”
The café also gives young people their first taste of work, giving them one-to-one training and equipping them with useful skills which can be used in future workplaces.
Given the reduced winter footfall, the cafe is unable to employ as many young people, however should they reach their fundraising target it is hoped this will change.
Should they reach their target, it is anticipated that the kitchen and new seating area will be complete by the start of December.
Featured image credit: Jim Linwood
