The new café hidden inside a 40-foot shipping container in one of Manchester's most loved parks

“Everybody wants a bit of a connection and a nice brew, don't they?"

Four years after first serving coffee and cake to park visitors via a bright yellow trike, a couple in Manchester have opened a brand new café in a 40-foot shipping container.

Levenshulme couple Kerry and Nat Lobel set up Grounded MCR in 2021 as a way to tackle an issue of their own where they felt their local parks were missing a café space for families and visitors to use.

Heading to the likes of Cringle Park and Platt Fields each week with their trusty trike, lovingly named after Moira in Schitt’s Creek, their local bakes, freshly-ground coffee and other delights were a hit with park attendees whilst their venture also served as a training ground for vulnerable adults and young people to work.

This week, Kerry and Nat opened their Grounded MRC café at Cringle Park, off Errwood Road near Levenshulme, with support from Manchester Council and following a crowdfunding project two years ago.

The space is decorated with bright and colourful murals from local artist Laurie Pink, alongside freshly-grown plants, trees and flowers that will come to life throughout the year and also be used as ingredients when possible.

“Honestly, it's been the biggest labour of love,” Nat told the Manchester Evening News of the new café space. “When we started during the pandemic, it was just a way of trying to help out the community’s collective mental health and it’s just grown into something much bigger since then.

“We always wanted to have a café and a permanent base with what we do and to be able to continue to train more vulnerable people, but there was never really an envision that it would become this.

“Everybody wants a bit of a connection and a nice brew, don't they? But I really didn’t think we'd be at the point where people would literally be banging down the door on our day off. How nice is that, you know? we just feel incredibly privileged.”

The plans for the café that stands proud today first came about when Nat and Kerry discovered an abandoned storage container listed for sale on Facebook, of all places. With the space having previously been used as a café, the pair saw the potential to transport it into south Manchester.

The dark green set up features an indoor kitchen, with just enough room for a café set up including tables and seats. When the weather is nice, there is extra space for outdoor seating, as well as for hammocks and children’s activity areas.

“We’re just hoping for some festival vibes here in south Manchester,” Nat says. “And we’ve had that already just on our first day. It’s taken a lot of wrangling back and forth to get to this point but it feels so good to finally be open.

“We’ve got loads of beautiful planters and trees that are already growing and it's just an attempt to make the park more visible and also be as environmentally-friendly as we can be.”

The pair will be working with local organisations and groups, including those that help support women in probation to get back into the workforce. They also have their own future baristas scheme which helps young people aged 18 to 24 learn about hospitality and the coffee business.

Now being a café as opposed to a van also means that the Grounded MCR offering can now be fully expanded too with meals set to be served throughout the week. Alongside using their own homegrown produce and ingredients when possible, they are also working with Fareshare to utilise surplus food that would otherwise be going to waste to make exciting new dishes.

Due to this, some aspects of the menu will regularly change but some staples will include the likes of mac and cheese (with homegrown cress), as well as a homemade spanakopita, which is a vegan-friendly crispy feta and spinach pastry. There are also breakfast dishes, ‘picky’ plates and homemade chips to order too.

Amongst the speakers to address a packed-out crowd during the cafe’s official opening on Thursday afternoon (April 10) was Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council and is also a councillor for the nearby Burnage ward.

“It’s felt like quite a long time coming,” Cllr Craig said at the event. “It has probably been about three-and-a-half years in the making. We’ve seen the park going from strength-to-strength, particularly coming out of the pandemic, people really do value the park locally.”

Kerry added at the event: “It has been a long ride, it started in lockdown and we were in this park everyday with our two children and we thought it would be really nice to have somewhere to get a brew.

“So, we came to the council and said ‘can we have a café?’ because everyone always asked us about having one and they said yes. Judging by the last few weeks before we’ve opened, it’s shown to us that this is absolutely needed and is definitely what people wanted.”

Kerry and Nat said that the response to the initial launch of the café has also highlighted to them how something like this can be replicated in any of the 144 parks located in Greater Manchester.

“I really hope that this is something that can be rolled out all across Greater Manchester because it feels like there is such a need for it,” Nat explains. “Not only when it comes to an accessible toilet space, but also for a café or a space where people can just hang out. It just all comes back to that basic human need for connection.

“If something like this can happen elsewhere, that would be really brilliant and I do think that Manchester City Council are up for making it happen. For us, it’s just about being quite brave and rolling with our ideas and getting everyone to come on board for the ride.

“This has just turned into something that is exactly what we wanted and, honestly, how nice is it that we get to work somewhere that doesn’t even feel like work, you know? It’s just one big laugh riot, it’s absolute jokes all the time.”

And as for what the pair have in store for the future, they say they are just taking it one day at a time but want to continue to push the envelope and continue to deliver what people want from them.

“It's been a wild ride so far and we’re looking forward to just having people keep coming back time and time again,” Nat said. “We want to grow as much as we can and there is loads of potential for big events and collaborations with local groups and businesses. That’s the dream.”

The Grounded MCR café is open at Cringle Park everyday - except for Wednesdays - from 10am to 4pm. Cringle Park is on Crossley Road, Levenshulme, M19 2QP.