Picture Mandy Jones
A community hub in North Wales has opened a sandwich bar.
The new venture, at The Centre in Ruthin, will offer a weekly macrobox meal deal offering a healthy choice with the right mix of protein and carbohydrates.
The idea has been introduced by husband and wife team Paul and Katie Edwards who took over the running of The Centre last April.
Since then they have been introducing a variety of concepts to increase the use of The Centre and to boost the health of the community, including the installation of a gym pod next to The Centre.
Personal trainer Paul designed the gym pod himself and it offers privacy and expert support to those who are targeting better health and fitness.
The sandwich bar is open from Tuesdays to Fridays from 10am to 2pm and has been named The Grub Hub in tribute to the cafe Katie and her mum used to run in Denbigh.
The couple’s work at The Centre has received a ringing endorsement from the Pendine Arts and Community Trust (PACT), which supports community health and well-being, by Mario Kreft MBE and his wife, Gill, the owners of the Pendine Park care organisation.
PACT has been helping to promote the work of the couple as they look to increase the use of The Centre.
Katie, from Denbigh, said:
“We’ve opened up the gym pod, and now it’s looking at the next phase of what to do. There is footfall there in The Centre now that we have grown the use in the last 12 months.
“There are a lot more people now knowing about the place, a lot more people using it – there's the tennis there, the driving range, the football, so a lot more people are coming.
“We originally just had vending machines, which are great, they’re something people can access when they are there, but we want to offer something else now, so we thought we would open up a sandwich bar.
“In the new sandwich bar we offer the normal kind of sandwiches, bacon butties, toasties, paninis, but also offer healthier options as well to tie in with the gym pod and to those who are more health conscious. So we provide salads, pasta bowls, and we also incorporate a weekly macrobox, as it’s called.
“The macrobox will include a protein, a carb, and a green or vegetable, so it could be chicken with rice and broccoli for example and a choice of sauce to go with it.
“The macroboxes are a healthy choice for those looking for a healthier meal.
“Obviously being in the community, being local, we do want to use local suppliers. So we are using Henllan Bakery for our bread, local butchers for our meat, we source local eggs and other products.”
Katie will be initially running the sandwich bar herself, though will be looking to bring in further members of staff as the trade builds up.
Katie has now given up her role as a part-time fundraiser for St Kentigern Hospice to work at The Centre full-time.
She said:
“The hospice job was a very rewarding role, and I loved it, they are lovely there and they do great work.
“We will still be supporting the hospice and looking to raise money for them at The Centre by doing some sort of event.”
The site, including the building, is owned by a community interest company, the Llanfwrog Community Association, and leased from Denbighshire County Council, with the various sporting activities being operated by different groups.
