21 June 2023
This is the weekly newsletter from Loaf in Stirchley, keeping you abreast of our bakery and cookery school, and other news we think you might be interested in.
This week we have exciting news! Construction has started on our new building in Stirchley!
Scroll down for this week’s lunch menu and cookery school spaces.
🍞 Pre-order your bread and pastries 🥐
We’ll have plenty on the shelves all week, with lunches served from noon on weekdays.
Our bakery opening hours are:
Tue - Fri: 12 - 6
Saturday: 8 - 1
Work begins on the SCD building
As many of you know, Loaf is part of a consortium of co-ops in Stirchley, Stirchley Co-operative Development (SCD), that are developing the land between Hunts Road and the British Oak. We started planning in 2016 so you can imagine how ecstatic we all are to see diggers levelling the ground ready for construction.
We had our ground breaking ceremony on Friday to mark the end of planning and the start of building. It was good to see a range of politicians in attendance - local councillors, our MP and the leader of the council - all supporting the core message of our project, that people thrive when they are in control of their housing.
You can read a press release about the ground breaking here. Thanks to all our friends and supporters who also attended. It was a really positive and rewarding day.
What does this mean for Loaf, practically speaking?
The biggest change is that we'll be working in square rooms. Loaf's bakery is currently a corridor on two levels and it's not ideal. Our new premises has been designed for our needs rather than our needs being compromised to fit.
The cookery school will have a dedicated space. Currently it's shared with the pastry, sweets and lunch shifts which, limits the amount of classes we can run. In the new building all this will move to the bakery so we'll be able to schedule classes and activities every day. We're excited to see how we can use this to broaden our reach and make our classes more accessible to the community.
The shop will be bigger. Like the bakery it's currently a corridor with very little room but the new shop will have plenty more space for local products and baking supplies.
With 39 flats above us we'll be part of an active community. We're constantly interrogating what it means to be a 'community bakery' and being part of the co-op running the building will add a fascinating dimension to this. The people upstairs won't just be potential customers – they'll be colleagues and partners working with us towards our mutual goals. Will this change how we relate to the people who buy our bread? We shall see!
Ultimately it will give us stability. We will be in control of our rents and can't be evicted for arbitrary reasons. While we currently have a friendly landlord and are grateful for all they've done for us, that could change and we would have no say in the process. The minimum life of the new building is 50 years and we want Loaf to be baking bread in, and for, Stirchley for at least that long.
Construction is scheduled to take a year and we should be able to move in from next autumn.
Exciting times!
Last chance for SIFA Fireside donations
We've been collecting donations for homelessness charity SIFA Fireside for the first half of this year and so far you've given £567, which is amazing! Thank you! But all things must change. Next week we'll announce our nominated charity for July through December so if you've been meaning to make a donation to SIFA through us you have 10 days left.
Lunches this week
Tuesday
- Curry: Tarka daal with sourdough (Ve)
Wednesday
- Gazpacho with crusty (Ve) or cheesy cobs (V)
Thursday
- Ciabatta sandwich: Red radish, pickled vegetables, roasted chickpeas, hummus & salad leaves (Ve) with optional halloumi (V)
Friday
- Curry: Cauliflower, potato and spinach with sourdough (Ve)
- Salt beef on challah
Tue – Fri
- Sourdough pizza: Potatoes, mushrooms, caramelised onions, wild garlic pesto oil and mozzarella (V)
Wed – Fri
- Ham and cheese croissant
- Pine nut pesto and cheese croissant (V)
Tue – Sat:
- Sausage rolls
- Vegetable rolls (V)
Lunches are made fresh weekdays for 12 noon.
Our menu for the week — with ingredients and allergens — is on the website.
Cookery school classes
The following classes have spaces as of this newsletter being posted.
Loaf’s all-day classes:
- Bread — Back to Basics: Sat 1 Jul, Sat 29 Jul
- Simply Sourdough: sold out
- Sweet Breads and Viennoiserie: Sat 15 Jul, Tue 25 Jul
- Baking with Heritage Grains: Sat 8 Jul
- Wholegrain Baking with Tom Baker: returns in the autumn
Loaf’s evening classes:
- Handmade Pasta: sold out
Haseen’s evening classes:
Lap’s all-day classes:
- Sausage & Charcuterie: returns in the autumn
- Seafood Masterclass: returns in the autumn
Lap’s evening classes:
- Thai Cooking: Tue 27 Jun
- Sushi: returns in the autumn
- Ramen: returns in the autumn
- Dumplings: Tue 11 Jul
- Macarons: Tue 4 Jul
- Knife Skills: returns in the autumn
The next tranche of dates will be released in the summer. You can sign up to alert lists for specific classes here.
Thanks for all your continued support. See you next week!
Team Loaf: Sarah, Nancy, Pete, Rach, Neil, Ian, Dorit, Dave, Molly & Martha
Website: loaf.coop
Socials: Instagram / Mastodon / Twitter / Facebook