Rose Garden Cafe Restoration Latest!

From Meeting of Friday 28th February 2025

Latest News from the Rose Garden Café Partnership

Today we heard from Charlotte Barrington the Mechanical Engineer from RLB Ltd on the restoration project about the options for the mechanical systems (heat, power, water, solar and drainage) in the cafe and which of the current modern systems are the most environmental sustainable and energy efficient (The current systems are very inefficient and costly.). We also discussed the community fundraising plans for Easter and beyond including craft stalls and a quiz night. We are grateful for £2,000 from the Local Area Committee to enable us to buy some equipment for our community engagement and fundraising work. The Expression of Interest to the National Heritage Lottery Fund has gone in by the deadline of 26th February. We await their decision wither we are able to proceed to a full bid. key points we noted are that:-

• Toilets are at the end of the life cycle

• Lighting, fire and hot water systems are over 20 years old.

• The roof is 100 years old in 2027

• The cafe only uses gas for water and heating

• A VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow- Air source heat pump) system is being recommended to provide a new form of heating with solar panels on the roof which will lead to a 50% reduction in energy costs. Maintaining the cafe’s good natural ventilation heat retention. We have asked for investigation into battery storage for the power generated by the solar array.

• There will also be an instant boiling water tap (Quooker) in the kitchen.

• All of the costs of this are already included in the current estimate of £2.6m for the restoration project.

This element is £522k for the VRF system External lighting £102k Drainage £45k.

We also discussed the Legacy Statement for the cafe and ideas for the continuing community involvement in the future operation of the cafe. These ideas are still under discussion.

We have requested that the project team try and produce ‘lifecycle costs’ for the cafe. Alan Wood has offered to assist us with this element.

Plans for community fundraising in the park Julie is in talks with ‘Better Points’ in the café.

Where people earn up to 1500 points for a free coffee and donate 50p to the restoration project.

Liz is working with Nathan with the councils T shirt supplier (pro bono) to give us a stick to sell at community events.

The current community fundraising total is £17,000 and the funds from the coffee cup donations in the cafe is £1924.00 Grant process application: the EOI to the NLHF has gone in by the deadline of 26th February.

We await their decision wither we are able to proceed to a full bid. We have asked for a full schedule of materials as soon as it is available to enable us to seek pro bono contributions from suppliers.

The Partnership will be reporting to the Council’s Charity Trustee Sub Committee on Monday 3rd March at 2.00pm in the Town Hall.

For more details of our progress and future plans go to the Partnerships ‘Have Your Say’ page https://haveyoursay.sheffield.gov.uk/rose-garden-cafe

Just a reminder to everyone that the partnership is made up of representatives from the Save the Rose Garden Café group, Friends of Graves Park and Sheffield City Council.

Please spread the word and let’s get people donating to our fundraiser.