Blether Cafe: a pupil led approach to inclusive community fundraising

How the Blether Cafe started 

Around four years ago, Linlithgow Primary School in West Lothian set up a pupil group and a parent and carer group to involve the school community in equity work. Early initiatives included a sharing shelf and community larder, snack baskets for playtimes, and a nearly new uniform swap shop. The pupil equity group then decided to set up and run a community café, designed to bring people into the school and fundraise in an inclusive way. 

Headteacher Laura Baillie says:

“It’s a cafe because we wanted it to be in the community and accessible to anyone that wants to come and feel relaxed. It’s a phenomenal success, people talk about it throughout the town. I am often stopped on the high street by people telling me they were at the cafe. It's brought so much to the community.” 

The practical details 

The Blether Cafe happens once or twice per term between 2pm and 3pm so that parents, carers or grandparents can come before picking up children. 

The cafe attracts a mix of people. Depute Head Zoe Gordon notes that:

“Often the people at the cafe have children at school or have had children at the school, but all members of the community are welcome. Sometimes we invite in certain people - we've invited in some of our care homes before. Some of the local childminders come in with younger children. It feels like it's a place for anyone that wants to come.” 

On the day, the school’s main hall is set up with tables and chairs, looking the part with wipe clean gingham cloths. Cafe goers are served by the equity committee and P6 colleagues, who are now very handy with a pair of tongs and confidently chat to everyone coming through the door. Parents and carers are on hand to serve teas and coffees.

Impacts: community and inclusive fundraising 

Laura Baillie says that for the school:

“It's recognised now as being at the heart of the equity work. And I think it's because of the community coming together.” 

A parent helper highlighted the social aspect of this work:

“It's a really nice thing for everybody to get together and socialise I think. And to meet the other parents. When my mum comes down, the grandparents, it's just nice to get together. And for me as a parent to meet some of the teachers.” 

Profits from the community cafe have helped top up school funds to support other equity projects in the school. This year money has gone to River Kids, a charity which works with families in the area. 

“I think we've always got to be mindful of hidden poverty,” 

Laura reflects:

“I think gone are the days where schools could be fundraising, fundraising, fundraising. School has got to be free. We have to be very careful about how we fundraise, and I think something like the Blether Cafe, where it's £1.50 for a cup of tea and a biscuit, people are maybe more likely to give because they're getting something back.” 

Daisy from the equity group says: 

“It's just a nice feeling knowing that something that we're doing is going to actually end up changing people's lives,”

 

Funding and partnerships 

The cafe is self-funded with no school funds or Pupil Equity Funding used to run it. 

The school first secured sponsorship from Cala Homes to pay for reusable mugs and platters, and then several small grants to buy other essentials. Cala also helped promote the cafe, getting news articles in the local press to encourage the local community through the doors. 

Liz Ferguson, who works in the school office, says that now that the cafe is up and running:

“It really pays for itself. We re-invest a small proportion of the profits into the running of the cafe and the rest goes to a chosen charity. We choose charities that have helped our children and families and by donating to them, we feel that we are able to give something back."

Staff capacity 

Zoe Gordon leads on the Blether Cafe with support from the pupil equity group and from Liz who is in charge of supplies and managing the accounts. 

Overcoming challenges 

The cafe took a while to really take off. Liz recalls:

“At the first couple of cafes, there was just about half a dozen people. To begin with we were actually texting people to say, could you bring along your friends?” 

Ensuring pupils could come to the cafe with their adults helped attendance, as did inviting more help from parents. Zoe thinks that:

“We automatically get more people, and they love to have their child come and sit with them and have a cup of tea with them and chat. It's nice.” 

Persistence has paid off, and now some cafes are phenomenally busy, most notably the Christmas event. Zoe said:

“the queue was almost to the very end of the playground, it was ridiculously busy. Now we have a backup plan of using our dining area as a backup if we need to.” 

It has also attracted recruitment to the equity group, which works on a wide range of issues alongside the cafe.

“We have frequent meetings and at each of the meetings we're looking to really have a key focus. We will always talk about the cafe as one of our agenda points because we've always got another one to plan for.”   

Regular meetings have built a strong foundation for the group, with Linlithgow pupils also contributing to wider national equity work. 

Beyond the cafe: what else the equity group is doing 

Linlithgow’s pupil equity group is now part of the Cost of the School Day Voice network. They have delivered assemblies to highlight support in school, attended online meetings with other network schools, taken part in a national Cost of the School Day Summit, contributed to the School Shouldn’t Cost manifesto and presented to MSPs and the Cabinet Secretary for Education at a Scottish Parliament event. 

Zoe says staff are delighted for the group.

“These are children who want to make a difference. They recognise that there is inequality out there and they want to be part of the change and part of what comes next... We love that they feel so empowered, they've had opportunities to speak in front of all these other people. The manifesto is a huge part of what we've been doing, and what we've been talking about.”

Future of the cafe and the equity group

“I think it's recognised now as being at the heart of the equity work,”

Headteacher Laura reflects:

“I think the responsibility of any headteacher is to know your children and know your families and your school and what you provide has to reflect the needs of those children and families. We're four years down in the journey and we’ve still always got work to do because you're always responding to the children that are presented in front of you.” 

Liz points out that:

“a lot of people have been saying that this is the only time that they meet, once a month, and they're putting it in their diary for next month. So even outwith the school community, they're coming in as well.” 

Zoe sums up what the experience brings to the young people and staff involved:

“At the end of a cafe, we do look back and we say, that was amazing. It was worth the stress, the hassle, the chasing. It's worth all of that just to be able to see the look on their faces, to see the children and the families enjoying the event, to see the staff enjoying doing something different and the pupil equity group being the lead players in it.”