The perfect blend of coffee and culture...

CAFE Culture is coming to Oldham with a new addition to the town centre’s cultural quarter.

The newly refurbished cafe at Gallery Oldham, Greaves Street is expected to become a popular meeting place.

Named Cafe Culture, it’s anticipated that the customer base will be built around gallery visitors, users of the library and lifelong learning centre and office workers and town centre shoppers looking for somewhere to have a coffee or a bite to eat.

Inspired by local and seasonal produce, the menu will include a range of home-made sandwiches, soups and cakes and will serve Fair Trade hot and cold beverages. As the café becomes more established, the menu will grow to meet customer demand and choice.

It will be managed by Oldham Council’s Community Vocational Service, which aims to integrate people with disabilities into mainstream employment.

Staff will include people with disabilities, who through working there will be given the opportunity to strengthen their work experience as well as develop their skills and confidence.

Customers can also look forward to a menu home-grown in Oldham as one of the service’s most successful programmes is a community allotment project using derelict land to produce local, organic food.

Councillor John McCann, Oldham Council’s Cabinet member for Community Services and Housing, said: “I am delighted the new café is opening at Gallery Oldham. I wish the cafe and its team every success.

“Cafe Culture will most certainly enhance the Gallery’s offering and increase its appeal as a visitor attraction.

“After choosing a book in the library or browsing around the gallery, visitors will now be able to enjoy a cup of coffee and a cake.

“This certainly appeals to me and hopefully will appeal to many others — both current and new visitors to the building in the future.”

The cafe will be open seven days a week: Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm, Saturday and Sunday, 10am-3:30pm. The cafe team will be working closely with the Gallery to reflect current themes linking to the exhibition programme.