Warden has completed work on a new permanent home for a popular Manchester café venture that helps people with anxiety get into employment.

We worked with Manchester City Council to provide a new eco-style modular café building which has allowed community interest company Grounded MCR to have a larger, permanent base in Cringle Park, Levenshulme.

The new home includes accessible toilet facilities for park visitors and complements several other recent investments made by the council in Cringle Park, including upgraded competition standard tennis courts, outdoor gym equipment, improvements to the play area and a new zip wire. The new facilities were officially opened by Lord Mayor, Councillor Paul Andrews.

Grounded MCR CIC was set up in 2021 by local couple Natalie and Kerry and previously operated as a mobile coffee stand, moving its distinctive yellow trike between Cringle Park and Platt’s Fields and appearing at local markets, festivals and events.

It has helped many vulnerable young people and adults to learn barista and hospitality skills, helping them to gain confidence and boost their employability skills. It welcomes people dealing with anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism, or other challenges that might make them feel vulnerable.

Ian Williams, managing director, said: “This is a great project to be involved in and one that will provide many benefits for local people. Grounded MCR is more than just the delicious coffee and cake, it’s providing a valuable community service and supporting people towards better mental wellbeing.

“We’re proud to have worked with Manchester City Council to provide Grounded MCR with a vibrant social space that will allow them to do so much more to help people.”

Natalie Lobel from Grounded MCR, said: “Grounded Manchester CIC is so happy to have been given the chance to open a community cafe in Cringle Park. Thank you to MCC – between us we can support local disadvantaged people into work whilst improving the mental health of our staff and customers. We can’t wait to get cracking.”

Councillor Lee-Ann Igbon Executive Member for Vibrant Neighbourhoods said: “We’ve created a strong partnership with the community in Cringle Park and the result is this fantastic new cafe and toilet facility where people can relax, enjoy quality food and drinks and feel part of the wider community.

“We are investing in our parks with our communities as they are places where people can enjoy nature, play sport and feel pride in their park – they are not just green spaces, they bring people together and are beneficial for both our physical and mental health.

“Our commitment is demonstrated in the 50% uplift we’ve seen in Park visitors from pre pandemic level. 9.2 million park visitors across the city in the past 12 months”

Our work on the £200,000 project involved the preparation works for the new facility, including new drainage and foundations and installing the new modular building and accessible toilet facilities.

In addition to the cafe, extensive planting and landscaping improvements have been made, including a new ‘green roof’ to ensure the cafe is sympathetic to the park surroundings.

The cafe will be serving a range of affordable hot and cold food and beverages and in line with the council’s commitment to reducing food waste, Grounded MCR will be working with FareShare to save unused food from being wasted.

Warden faced a surprising turn of events at our office in Kirkham when staff discovered, and helped to rehome, over 20,000 honey bees.

While investigating an unusual hum outside the office, our team uncovered a hive of approximately 23,000 bees hidden inside a manhole cover at the bottom of the car park.

The discovery was as fascinating as it was rare, honey bees typically make their homes in trees or above-ground spaces, not underground infrastructure.

Recognising the importance of handling the situation responsibly, our operations team contacted the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) to remove the bees safely.

Once they arrived, the BBKA team removed the manhole cover and used a nucleus box as a mock hive to successfully gather and relocate the entire hive, ensuring the wellbeing of both the bees and our staff.

The colony has since been rehomed across several local bee farms, where they will continue their vital work producing honey, pollinating local plant life, and playing an essential role in maintaining healthy ecosystems.

Eric Hassall, member of the Blackpool & Fylde British Beekeepers association, said: “Honey bees typically make their homes in trees, so finding a hive in an underground manhole is highly unusual, and made for a particularly complex removal. Down to sheer luck, we were fortunate enough to capture the queen which encouraged the rest of the colony to follow into the nucleus box.

“The team at Warden handled the situation exactly as they should have, by contacting us rather than pest control. Bees are vital to our environment, and relocating a hive of this size helps preserve a pollinator population that plays a major role in sustaining local ecosystems.”

Ian Williams, managing director, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the BBKA for their quick action and deep knowledge. It’s not every day you find tens of thousands of bees beneath your office, but we’re proud to have helped protect these important pollinators.”