Palm Greens, Hornbeam’s current Test Kitchen, will be running three vegan, seasonal Supper Clubs in March to show off their amazing internationally-inspired cuisine…
Big flavours, made from organic, locally-sourced veg,
Kali has worked as a freelance chef for more than ten years, travelling the world for work and pleasure. She’s always been a lover of food and conscious of the treatment of animals and well being of the earth.
Fascinated by the way food works with your body Kali trained at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York, a school specialising in vegetarian health supportive cooking, this is where her style of cooking began to develop. Building relationships with local growers such as Growing Communities has encouraged Kali’s enthusiasm and belief in the need to be more in touch with where our food comes from and the impact the food system has on our environment and local community.
Hornbeam JoyRiders basked in the media spotlight today, being featured on BBC London News(go to 4 mins 40 secs), ITV London News, and BBC Radio News (go to 1 min 25 secs) as a shining example of one of the 30 local community projects across the capital Transport for London supports through the TfL Cycling Grants London. We were also covered by local media.
Celebrating the TFL Cycling Grants London funding.
Hornbeam JoyRiders has been running since Jan 2017 and has had around 250 participants take part in rides around Waltham Forest (including family bike rides with dads and children), particularly off-road in some of the borough’s most beautiful natural areas. The TfL funding has enabled us to reach out to women and their families in Waltham Forest to help them gain confidence cycling, learn from scratch or brush up their skills and enjoy cycling with a supportive group.
We’ve also recruited and trained 20 Ride Leaders, four women have become instructors and at least at least 50 have been inspired to buy their own bikes. Anyone who doesn’t have access to a bike can hire one of Waltham Forest’s bikes for free on rides and ride with us, including more stable three-wheeler electric-assisted bikes, cargo bikes for carrying children, and specialist bikes for disabled passengers.
TfL is committed to increasing the number of women and diverse groups that cycle, including those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds and people with disabilities. Hornbeam JoyRiders has reached out to Muslim women in particular, but women from all backgrounds are welcome.
Cycling Grants London funding particularly helps groups that are traditionally under-represented among those choosing the healthy and sustainable way of travelling. By breaking down the barriers to cycling and making it safer, TfL aims to diversify cycling and make it accessible to people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
The other winning projects stretch across London and range from schemes that train young people in bike maintenance, a project that encourages women working in hospitals to cycle, training for young offenders to become bike mechanics, cycling groups for disabled and homeless people and a cycle training and maintenance project for the Hindu Bengali community.
Carolyn Axtell, Hornbeam JoyRiders Founder and Project Lead explained the backround of the project to the TV crews on a ride today at Jubilee Park, Leyton: “Hornbeam JoyRiders aims to empower women through introducing them to the joys of cycling, which can also help to build their confidence in other areas of life.
Women join together to gain confidence cycling and enjoy the local area with Hornbeam JoyRiders.
“I started taking my three kids to school by bike about three years ago and we found that it liberated us as a family. The school run became a pleasure rather than a stressful experience.
“Two years ago I discovered that at least 90 per cent of the other local mums would love to cycle but hadn’t had the opportunity, or had barriers preventing them, such as lack of confidence and not knowing how to cycle. This is why I started organising informal, social bikes rides once a month for women during school hours, and once a month for families and women-only group training for those who couldn’t cycle.
JoyRiders can borrow accessible bikes on rides if needed
“The Cycling Grants London funding has enabled me to build a strong, ever-expanding network of participants and volunteers, as previously we didn’t have enough Volunteer Ride Leaders to accommodate all of the demand.”
Will Norman, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner who came to join the JoyRiders today was definitely impressed by our project and explained how he feels projects like these are essential to help broaden the appeal and benefits of cycling: “By giving Londoners of all abilities, ages and backgrounds the confidence to cycle, we can improve their health and quality of life, as well as reducing toxic air pollution, which improves our city for everyone.”
TfL offers free Cycle Skills training to give people of all abilities the chance to improve their confidence on the capital’s roads.
To book free cycle skills training please use this link:
What the Fattoush? are trialling their first ever brunch menu at The Hornbeam Cafe with dishes including a typical Palestininian breakfast and shakshuka with vegan ‘eggs’.
Why not pop in for the kanafeh and coffee deal? Sweet cashew ‘mozzerella’ topped with vermicelli and drenched in orange blossom syrup. Try Palestine’s favourite dessert and a cup of Arabic or filter coffee for £7/£7.50
The What the Fattoush? small plates menu will run on the evenings of Friday 25 Jan and Saturday 26 Jan with dishes including beer battered okra with a date and tamarind sauce as well as aubergine and bulgur kefte balls.
What the Fattoush? opening times:
Thursday 24 Jan 11am – 5pm
Friday 25 Jan 10am – 4.30 & 6 – 10.30
Saturday 26 Jan 10am – 5 & 6-10.30pm
Sunday 27 Jan 10am – 4pm
What the Fattoush? donate 10% of their profit to @Skate_Pal, an NGO supporting young people in Palestine through skateboarding.
We’re having a Xmas market popup at the cafe to share seasonal festivities, mulled wine, mince pies, gifts and more.
Please come along and enjoy a relaxed afternoon, grab a few extra stocking fillers, and join us for a drink and a snack.
Can you sell pickles, jams, chutneys?If you’d like your own vegan food or drink or craft stall book here before Thurs 18 Dec. Only £10 for a table, or contact Anne at anne@hornbeam.org.uk
Arts and craft stall holders welcome.
Please note the normal cafe service will be closed.
This is our chance for people to buy, sell, eat, drink, chat and be merry together – do join us!
We’ve absolutely LOVED being part of the Spicebox journey into East End celebrity status and will be so sad to see them go but delighted they have a permanent venue now elsewhere in Walthamstow opening after the new year.
Have a scrumptiously spicy Xmas!
Their last day at The Hornbeam Cafe is 20 December. Get your Xmas dinner outings in now to avoid disappointment! See SpiceBox’s Xmas menu
At The Hornbeam we support people to ‘skill-up’ and follow their dreams in low-cost, healthy, sustainable living.
The Hornbeam Cafe is a central part of our training facility. If you’d like to learn the secrets of running a vegan cafe but have never had the opportunity or investment to do so, we can help train you and provide you with a space to work from and to be part of a supportive team.
We’re looking for a volunteer to help us book and organise events at The Hornbeam in E17 and our Hornbeam Learning Lodge in E4.
We’d love to have you for around 5 hours a week, working from our office at the Hornbeam Centre (Mon, Tues or Fri), or at the Hornbeam Learning Lodge in Chingford on Thursdays. You’ll need to be good on the phone and on the computer (email, Excel, online booking systems) and be a great organiser. If you also have social media skills that would work well too, but not essential.
This would be particularly suitable for someone who’s already got good contacts in the community with artists, workshop leaders, etc, and could help spread the word about our facilities and venues.
The Hornbeam Cafe is open Tues-Sun serving vegan quiches, salads, hotpot, soups, cakes and various drinks, PLUS vegan Indian-inspired food by SpiceBox Thurs-Sun (see below) day and evenings.
Our organic coffee is amazing tho we say it ourselves…
SpiceBox are running their exciting Indian-inspired Test Kitchen at the Hornbeam from 21 Sept and NOW EXTENDED due to popular demand to end of December 2018 on Thurs and Fri evenings and weekends during the day and evenings.
Monday: Normal Cafe closed, but The Hornbeam Centre is open for People’s Kitchen – come and learn to cook a vegan meal from 10am or just come for a Pay-As-You-Feel lunch at 1-2pm. Get involved.
Tuesday-Friday:
10am-5pm: Hornbeam Cafe open – drop-in
