A fortnightly drop-in for the signing community to gather will be launched this week at The Stove! The region’s first ‘Sign & Dine’ has been organised in association with the signing community and is a fortnightly drop-in in the cafe which is open to all to meet with one another, grab a coffee or just find out more about signing!
The initiative aims to engage both the hearing and deaf communities in signing and is the first regular event in what is hoped to be many more catering for the signing and deaf communities in the region.
Organiser and activist Eileen Cassells, who is an active and prominent member within the signing community has created this event as a welcoming place to come, whatever your level of sign language skills. It’s a universal language that can be used around the world. She is hoping to bridge the gap between the “hearing” and the “deaf” worlds, making it just “our” world. The event will allow the deaf to be heard and bring the whole community together, so you can “talk” to your deaf neighbour, friend, family member, or even that stranger you see every day.
We are delighted to be supporting such a great project and hope this grows similar initiatives across the region to engage the signing communities, both deaf and hearing. We want to be open to everyone in our community and encourage those learning or curious to pop in!
The first Sign & Dine is on the 16th of November at the Stove Café from 1pm followed by a launch reception at 7pm on the 16th featuring talks, refreshments and a chance to learn more about the project.
A travelling exhibition has stopped off in Dumfries, offering the public the opportunity to find out more about the fascinating story of Latvia as a European nation since its becoming independent 100 years ago. The project is part of Latvia’s Centenary celebration culture programme and has been created in cooperation with the Latvian National Library, with the participation of Honorary Consuls of Latvia and various organizations in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to create a dialogue about the differences in what each of us perceive as the true history through historical cartoons.
The exhibition presents a selection of political cartoons from the Latvian press, covering the entire 20th century right up to the present day. This chronicle of Latvia’s history also features historical events with international resonance: World War I, the interwar period, the Great Depression, World War II, the periods of occupation and related restrictions on freedom of expression, as well as the European Union and other contemporary political-economic subjects.
The exhibition opened on Wednesday 5th September, with Deputy Head of Mission to the UK Katarina Plâtere official opening the evening alongside Dumfries Provost Tracey Little. An evening of Latvian food and drink followed.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Katarina for travelling to Dumfries, and a special thanks to Sanita Lapkase for organising the exhibition and bringing it to Dumfries. It was a wonderful evening enjoyed by all! If you missed out then don’t worry – the exhibition will be on display in the Stove cafe until Thursday 13th September.
This month at the Stove, we were very lucky to have not one but twoDMC:Presents gigs in our Cafe Space! Photographer Kirstin McEwan was there to capture both evenings.
First up was a double headliner evening of folk style ukulele music from Galloway songstress Zoë Bestel, and Danish virtuoso Tobias Elof. The two ethereal artists performed an intimate gig of beautifully crafted songs, both together and solo to celebrate the launch of Transience, Bestel’s newly released album.
Next up was the amazing Glasgow based band from Castle Douglas ‘VanIves’, who held their first headline show in Dumfries at the Stove on 14th June. The electronic pop duo take influences from artists like Boniver, Matt Corby, Disclosure and SG lewis. They were supported by ‘Flew the Arrow’ – a fast-rising contemporary folk artist from Ayr.
If you have been passing the Stove over the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed Simon Harlow’s team of artists and makers are very much installed on the ground floor making final preparations towards the regular opening of The Stove, from Monday 29th of February.
From the 29th, The Stove will be open Monday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm, including drop-in information point and cafe space on the ground floor. The cafe at the Stove will be run by Angela and Colin Green, who will continue to run their current business, Mrs Green’s up the street. The Stove will offer a place to drop in, meet, exchange and find out about current events and activities as well as a space to enjoy hot drinks, cakes and lunches. We hope that if the cafe is successful that we can extend opening hours to include more evening provision, and the space will also support our evening events – such as Brave New Words and Reel to Real Cinema, which will continue.
Plate designing and food discussion workshop with the Open Jar Collective
The drop-in space will function as a place to visit to find out about the Stove and our upcoming programme, as well as a location for workshops, meetings and small scale activities. More details on this space will be announced online, or drop by from the 29th of February to find out more.
The first floor will continue as our project space, with pop up events, workshops and activity taking place. Find out more about our programme here
The second floor is made up of our own digital suite, workshop, and small offices, currently rented out by the LGBT+ Group, Blueprint100, several local artists and guitar teacher David Bass.
If you would like to find out more about how you can use the stove cafe and drop in space, for projects, ideas or events find out about how to submit ideas to us here
Final tweaks to the new designs for our cafe furniture, being produced in partnership with Maklab
The refurbishment of the Stove cafe and interior is being led and created by Simon Harlow of Silo Design and Build. Based in Glasgow, Simon was selected from our design commission call out, and has led an exciting process exploring how to design a functional and beautiful space, using a range of local materials and skills. More about Simon and his design practice available online here
Catering Scoping Project for The Stove – Abridged version to accompany Catering Tender
Original version by Clem Sandison, Alex Wilde and Hannah Brackston
Outline of the Project
The aim of Open Jar’s work with The Stove Network was to gather ideas and viewpoints about the creation of a catering enterprise at The Stove. Following a period of targeted conversations with key stakeholders and pop-up engagement activities with the public, Open Jar Collective produced a report. This will now inform how the space is developed and used by the public and forms part of the tendering process to appoint someone to deliver the catering enterprise at The Stove. From December 2014 to February 2015, we surveyed the food businesses local to The Stove building, spoke to eleven individuals/groups, and ran a public “Feeding Creativity” event, attended by 20 people.
Identified Needs
By The Stove:
To provide a welcoming space that is a community resource, a hub for the arts community, and a space for people to share and connect.
To provide a flexible space that can be used for a range of events, workshops, meetings, or other ways of engaging people.
To ensure that the functioning of any café element in the space is operated autonomously.
A catering enterprise would serve as a stepping stone to the wider programme of The Stove and activities within the building—a way to signpost people.
An income stream as part of the social enterprise of The Stove Network Ltd charity, integrated into the charity’s activities.
A desire to offer something different with its own unique identity.
A desire for the approach to be ethical in terms of operation, production, and supply.
To connect to the wider aim of regeneration and attracting people into the town centre.
To engage with the street outside The Stove and activities in the square.
In the Meetings:
Training opportunities in the hospitality industry for college students.
Somewhere to go after 5 pm in the town centre.
Addressing the lack of activities for 14–21-year-olds in Dumfries.
For people to collaborate to rejuvenate the town centre.
To create a destination.
At the “Feeding Creativity” Event:
A place to meet and space for groups to hire.
Connecting with local food and food producers.
A platform for exchanging knowledge and produce between small-scale growing projects/allotments/community gardens.
Mindfulness around food—simple menu, good food, affordable prices, nourishing environment, and sharing tables/spaces.
A space that is accessible to young people.
Promotion of transparent and ethical buying.
Collaboration—supporting a range of local businesses.
Avoiding displacement of existing businesses—offering something distinct.
Opportunities
Goodwill and excitement surrounding The Stove and the new building’s potential.
Offering something distinct, as most places in the town centre are similar.
Collaborating with the college to cook food off-site.
Establishing a multi-functional arts venue to meet the needs of diverse groups.
Alcohol-free venue—responding to stricter drink-drive limits and creating a pub-like café atmosphere.
Experimenting with a waste food catering model.
Growing hub—connecting allotments, barter schemes, and knowledge exchange about growing.
Providing education on growing produce and cooking methods.
Bringing food production into the town.
Profit-sharing with pop-up guest chefs and food producers.
Creating a community within the building, which has its own momentum and attracts different audiences.
Challenges
Avoiding alienation of people who are not attracted by a specific focus, such as local food.
Maintaining quality as a priority.
Balancing social objectives like local, fairtrade, and ethical sourcing while generating profit.
Avoiding competition with other food businesses in the town.
Encouraging support for small, independent businesses over chains and multi-nationals.
Preventing burnout or lack of revenue for the operator within a year.
Creating a viable enterprise given limited space and kitchen facilities.
Considerations/Restrictions
Prep/Serving/Storage Area:
Limited space allows only basic preparation of drinks, cakes, and soup.
Pop-up event catering would need to happen off-site due to insufficient facilities for cooked meals.
Conversion of the courtyard space into dry storage is essential.
Permanent fixtures such as a double prep/washing-up sink, hand wash sink, coffee machine, and electrics for fridges are necessary.
Cold storage requirements include at least three undercounter fridges for milk, cold drinks, and food.
Space design should include a counter area for serving and preparation, with flexibility to reconfigure for events.
Design/Fit-Out:
Balancing the café brand with The Stove’s aesthetic vision.
Serving drinks and food in compostable paper plates/cups due to space constraints.
The integration of an industrial dishwasher and china serving ware would require additional staff and storage space.
Further Thoughts
Sourcing/Pricing Policy:
Balancing local/fairtrade sourcing with affordability to avoid being seen as a niche market.
Defining “local,” “ethical,” and “sustainable” clearly in the tender document.
A “preferred supplier” list could include producers such as Loch Arthur for cheese, Earth’s Crust for bread, and Greencity Wholefoods for dried goods.
Seasonal vegetable soups could showcase local produce and provide a good profit margin.
Maintaining competitive prices for quality meat, cheese, and bread may be challenging.
Many have suggested simple solutions to the French Paradox, the apparent contradiction that the French can eat rich, fatty foods while maintaining a lifestyle much healthier than many their counterparts in the western world. Could it be all the red wine? Or maybe its something in their genetics? The answer, as Will Marshall explained in his introduction to the Open Jar Collective’s “Feeding Creativity” event, is likely much more complicated than that, and is a clear indication that our attitude towards food has a fundamental effect on our everyday lives. From how we socialise, to how we interact with our surrounding landscape and, importantly, how we create, Will understands that our relationship with food shapes us as individuals and as a community, capable of bringing us together and prompting what he calls “unexpected interactions” across all sorts of social and cultural boundaries. For him and the rest of the Stove team, the prospect of opening a cafe Dumfries town centre is much more than a simple business venture. On the contrary, the Stove sees its future cafe not just as a place to drink nice coffee but as lively hub that will bring the community together, be it to participate in the events or activities facilitated by the Stove network or just to enjoy good quality local produce, sourced from across the region.
The Project Cafe in Glasgow, one of the cafe’s cited by Open Jar in their exploration of Creativity and Food
o fulfil this vision, the Stove has enlisted the expertise of the Open Jar Collective, a group of Glasgow-based artists who specialise in all things food. Open Jar have been carrying out extensive research to in order formulate an operational plan and identity for the cafe, analysing similar projects undertaken by other arts organisations in the UK (Glasgow’s Project Cafe was offered as one such example) and meeting with local producers such as the Loch Arthur Farmshop.
Feeding Creativity represented another stage in this process, a 2-hour event held at 100 Midsteeple in which they invited anyone with an interest in food and creativity to have their say about what they’d like to see from a new eating spot in the town centre – and to share some tasty soup and bread in the process.
Attendees included caterers, health workers, business owners and civil servants amongst other professionals, all interested in leveraging the cafe’s prime location and the region’s ample culinary resources to enrich the town and the lives of its denizens alike. Splitting into groups, they identified problems currently ailing the town and suggested some ways these could be addressed, resulting in a sort of mission plan that might inform the functioning of the cafe in its finished form.
Chief among these was the need for a place to meet after shopping hours that isn’t a pub, giving young people a chance to get out of the family home and giving community groups somewhere amenable to convene on a regular basis. Another was the desire for a knowledge centre where townsfolk can share their passion for food, be it cooking skills, growing techniques or healthy eating advice.
All in all, Open Jar were met with an enthusiastic response and left with plenty of ideas to work with, ending the night by assuring that further public consultations are in the works. With the cafe due to open in time for Guid Nychburris, the Stove is keen to get as many people excited about food’s potential to bring about positive change as they can in the coming months, ideally resulting in a space that the people of Dumfries can feel invested in and responsible for, and which gives the town centre a whole new lease of life. If Feeding Creativity is any indication, it’s off to a great start.
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