Community cafe’s future passes onto safe hands

Raising a toast to a new future. The new management team at the Uig cafe

Last Friday, the café at Uig Community Centre in Lewis opened under new management – local women who have formed a social enterprise to run it for the benefit of other community services.

Popular in the past with locals and visitors, the café in its new guise promises to serve nutritious local food at affordable prices and also to support the Uig Community Centre Association which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.

“All our baking is home made. All our soups are home made” is a promise that will help to ensure success for the venture.

The women plan to run the cafe as a six days per week service and to provide local employment.

The café is also adjacent to the excellent small museum which is run on a voluntary basis by Comunn Eachdraidh Ùig and attracts many visitors during the tourist season.

Uig has a strong history of community-run amenities including the local shop and the Community Centre itself where the volunteer committee work tirelessly to put on a wide range of events and facilities as well as providing space for the neighbouring primary school.

The café team say: “We hope that by generating essential funds through our operations, we can contribute to the Centre’s financial viability and sustainability.

"As well as visitors, the population of Uig relies on facilities in this building which are essential for maintaining a thriving, healthy and close-knit community”.

The cafe will be open daily, except Sundays, from 12 noon till 4pm.