Flo’s – The Place in the Park, the community hub for OX4, has reopened the doors of its community café and refill shop this week following a long-awaited roof repair and kitchen refurbishment project.
Flo’s is a community-owned social enterprise with a vision for a more connected, more equitable and more environmentally healthy community. Income generated through Flo’s Café and Flo’s Refill Shop is reinvested directly into community-led work that places health, belonging and equity at its heart.
Based in Florence Park, Flo’s offers a welcoming and inclusive space for local people of all ages. Alongside Flo’s Café and Flo’s Refill shop, the organisation delivers free and pay-what-you-can meals, free holiday food provision for children, community classes, peer support groups and free family activities as well as being a welcoming space to come together and connect in beautiful gardens maintained by Flo’s regular volunteer gardening groups.
The refurbishment project has been made possible through support from Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford Community Foundation’s ‘Step Change Fund’ alongside a generous private donation. The improvements will help ensure that Flo’s can continue delivering high-quality food and service while sustaining vital community initiatives including a pay-it-forward meal scheme, supported walking and gardening groups for adults, free family events and equity-focused projects such as the OX4 Food Crew and Equal Start Oxford.
Laura Sewell, Executive Director of Flo’s, said:
”“We are delighted and grateful to be reopening Flo’s Cafe and Flo’s Refill Shop to our community once again. With fresh decor, a refreshed menu and with a new visual identity and signage, this feels like an exciting new chapter for us.
Closing our doors for six weeks was not easy. Many local people rely on Flo’s, and we are proud that we were still able to continue much of our wider community work during the closure, including our Flo’s Nurseries, our regular community groups and antenatal sessions.
This refurbishment is about much more than a building improvement. It is about protecting a trusted community space where people can access connection, nourishment, support and opportunities to thrive.
We are incredibly grateful to our loyal customers and supporters who continued to visit and support our outdoor cafe provision at Flo’s Hatch throughout the closure.”
Flo’s will celebrate reopening with its “Spring into Summer” community event on Saturday 30 May; a free event to welcome local residents back into the space which will include games, kids crafts, a plant sale, free bike maintenance and repairs in partnership with Broken Spoke Oxford and live music for everyone to enjoy.
For more information about Flo’s – The Place in the Park, visit www.flosoxford.org.uk or visit their Instagram.
