Looking for Community Baker in Cambridge, UK

There is a possible opportunity for a Community Baker for a bakery in Cambridge, UK

CamBake (group) and Transitions UK (group) are bidding for a bakery in north Cambridge, and we will need a capable and skilled baker to lead the baking (with support from volunteers).  We only have a few weeks to submit the bid, so if you are interested, please get in touch ASAP!

Details of the opportunity are shown below.  If anyone is interested in finding out more about this possible opportunity, please email cambakebread@gmail.com in the first instance!

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Please find below a couple of updates on the bakery opportunity

 Firstly from Transitions Cambridge, the partner that CamBake is working with: 

Wednesday 22 October: A community bakery for Cambridge?

19:30-21:30, 82 Akeman Street, Cambridge, CB4 3HG

Exciting plans are afoot to help Cambake set up a community bakery at a site in Cambridge, which was a working bakery until recently. We are on a very short timeline as we need to put a proposal into the council (who will rent out the site) by 7th November. So we invite anyone with an interest in this project to come along to a meeting to find out more. 

First and foremost we have to concentrate on setting up the bakery and we would particularly like to meet anyone with baking experience and contacts, and those who may be able to pledge their time, business/project management know how or money to help set it up (if you can't make this meeting, please get in touch and we'll send you more info when we have it). We already have several wonderful offers but more will be very welcome. 

Making sure that we have the people and support to revive the bakery is key but once we do this (fingers crossed we get the site) we can look forward to discussing everything from locally foraged food to a REconomy centre. We are planning a yummy cafe, baking workshops, a community kitchen, skillshares, plus we’re sure that you will have lots of ideas of ways to make use of the various spaces! But first, we have to get the lease - it is a competitive market but hopefully we've got an edge with so much Cambridge community support. 

If you'd like to come to this meeting, please let us know as space may be limited - thanks! We hope to post more information here soon.

Secondly, an update from Kati (a CamBake core baker) who visited the bakery yesterday:

Dear bakers, an' all

A short while ago, earlier this month Peter sent out a message: his
immediate response on going to view the former  Maskells bakery.

I have just been to see it today.  And Yes, Wow, what an opportunity.

Wanting to put Peter's message below here - and share/echo all of his
enthusiasm.

There is massive potential to this bakery - very exciting.
The ovens are very large, and the long very deep shape of them makes them so
versatile.   Big enough for workshops at the same time as the bakery.
Externally they do also look to be in good condition.

The buildings around them are not in such good condition, but there is a lot
of space - both for the bakery and for community workshops.

A bit of fun - a mystery machine.

Looking good in rotund metallic silver, and quite mysterious.  We gazed in
bewilderment.  Until Jennie said she knew what it was for:- punching out
bread rolls!     Then it was obvious and wonderful.

Only real difference between this and Peter's message is that the time frame
has shrunk.
We now only have three weeks in which to pull a tender together, to submit
to the council.

We are not alone in this - people from Transition are also looking at many
of the practicalities of making this into the very special community project
that it could be.

To echo Peter - a very immediate need, is to find/attract a baker!

We all know our own circumstances.  So, going out into the wider real bread
community......The Real Bread Campaign, Training college in London, etc
etc...

Until we have a tender accepted we are not able to put out an upfront job
application.

But we can, and need to put out something to invite "expressions of
interest" from potential bakers.

I will begin to have a go tomorrow.  Anticipate that it will NOT fit the
bill.  Tomorrow I'll send draft out....for pulling apart and putting back
together again - Please!

All very bests
Kati

Peter's message:
"An incredibly exciting community bakery prospect has come up north of the
river, with an opportunity to lease an existing, established bakery from the
council.
It has beautiful big ovens which could be for cakes, flat breads or
pizzas as well as traditional loaves and there are lots of regulars who are
missing their fresh local bread.

Transition wants to put together a project which will grow this existing
bakery into something really special with the hope that in future this could
become a diverse community resource maybe with a community kitchen, an art
space, bike repair workshops...
Most importantly we want to make sure the bakery remains in the community
and thrives as a business supplying the regulars with their morning crusts.

Are you, or do you know, any enthusiastic experienced bakers who would like
to be one of our resident bakers? Do you have any bakery
experiences/thoughts that could help us get off the ground?

We have about four weeks to submit our proposals to the council - so please
get in touch
<http://e.groupspaces.com/click/51e9e-1ny5k-cq1yn2jm3?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tra
nsitioncambridge.org%2Fmail-contact%2Fsendmail.php%3Fwho%3Dcmbr52> ! You can
also see what we're up to via our facebook page
<http://e.groupspaces.com/click/51e9e-1ny5k-cq1yn2jm3?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fa
cebook.com%2Fcambridge.community.bakery> . (We are also looking for help
with lots of other things - more info soon!)"