Kitchen's cooking with £20,000 donation

A £20,000 donation from the operator of Southampton’s container port has helped a social enterprise café in the city become a sizzling success.

Upwards of 500 customers every day have been buying food and drink from 9am to 5pm at ParkLife in St. James’ Park, Shirley.

From left: Nichola Caveney of FoSJP, café manager Lee Davies and DP World Southampton’s Alex Hunter, at ParkLife Café.

The five-acre park underwent a £1.5m transformation over 12 months ago thanks to £1.3m funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and £200,000 from the city council.

DP World Southampton, which runs the city’s container port, generously supported the project by donating £20,000 of the £35,000 needed to fit out the café with catering equipment, including fridge freezers, serving counter, dishwasher and a coffee-making machine.

The café is managed full time by chef Lee Davies, with four part-time workers, with the aim of giving disadvantaged people an opportunity to help out from this month (September).

DP World Southampton is allocating tens of thousands of pounds to community projects in and around the city following suggestions from affiliated employees, with the café donation the largest to date.
Alex Hunter, who is the company’s financial reporting manager, whose two children play at the park, said:

“What has been achieved here is fantastic, and DP World Southampton is proud to have played a positive role in bringing the local community together through the ParkLife Café.”

Nichola Caveney, chair of Friends of St. James’ Park (FoSJP), a 400-strong member organisation, said:

“We are grateful to DP World Southampton for its generous support for our popular café, which is attracting upwards of 500 customers a day and is somewhat of a success story.

“The next step for the café, now it is established, is to help transform the lives of disadvantaged people by giving them confidence-building skills by working in the café. They will include long-term unemployed, ex-offenders and the disabled.

“It is important to emphasise that all surplus profits from the café, which is a social enterprise, are ploughed back into FoSJP for future events and activities at the park.”

St. James’ Park’s redevelopment includes new entrances, improved play facilities, botanical walks and wildflower areas, along with new exhibitions and educational materials that explore the social heritage of the park, which dates back to 1907 and is known as the much-loved People’s Park.

The café itself has areas for indoor and outdoor seating and tables, with sliding glass patio doors and a sheltered winged porch entrance.

Nearly 1,000 people attended the public opening in mid-July.

Other recent local donations by DP World Southampton include £8,000 for a kitchen for Marchwood Scouts Group’s planned new hall next year, £4,000 for a soundproof curtain at Ashurst Pre-School in the New Forest, a £2,000 inflatable tumble track for Calmore Acro Zone and a £5,000 gazebo at Calmore Junior School, £1,700 worth of sponsorship for New Forest Volleyball Club, £4,000 for youth help charity No Limits in Southampton and £3,400 for new lifejackets for the Rona Sailing Project near Hamble.

Notes to Editors

DP World is one of the largest marine terminal operators in the world, with 49 terminals and 9 new developments and major expansions across 31 countries(1). Its dedicated, experienced and professional team of nearly 30,000 people serves customers in some of the most dynamic economies in the world.

DP World aims to enhance customers’ supply chain efficiency by effectively managing container, bulk and other terminal cargo.

The company constantly invests in terminal infrastructure, facilities and people, working closely with customers and business partners to provide quality services today and tomorrow, when and where customers need them.

In taking this customer-centric approach, DP World is building on the established relationships and superior level of service demonstrated at its flagship Jebel Ali facility in Dubai, which has been voted “Best Seaport in the Middle East” for 16 consecutive years.

In 2010, DP World handled nearly 50 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units) across its portfolio from the Americas to Asia. With a pipeline of expansion and development projects in key growth markets, including India, China and the Middle East, capacity is expected to rise to around 95 million TEU by 2020, in line with market demand.

www.dpworld.com

(1) As of 11 May 2011