Artefact is closing (for now!)

As you’ll know, Artefact is one of the worker’s co-ops joining the Bike Foundry and Loaf in our new building, currently under construction on the corner of Hunts Road. Their lease is up on their current home and, for various reasons, they’ve decided to vacate.

This Friday is the big closing (for now!) party, starting with Artefact’s Artefacts where you can purchase a piece of Stirchley history.

Then there’s the final programme of events through to the 30th July when the doors will shut.

Artefact isn’t going away though. Over the next year there’ll be regular events popping up in venues across Stirchley while they get themselves ready for the new building. Sign up to their newsletter to stay informed.

Loaf’s tour diary

We took Loaf on the road last week, for the first time in quite a while.

Last Saturday we were at CoCoMad selling bread, pastries, cold drinks and, once the high street shop closed, anything left over in the bakery. It was great to get out and meet new people, and of course chat to some regulars in a more relaxed environment. We noticed a bit of an uptick in visitors to the shop during the week which might have come from CoCoMad, or it might just be Stirchley high street being unpredictable as usual. Who knows! But we had a good time, met lots of new people, sold more than enough to make it worth while and will definitely be back next year.

Then on Tuesday we had a bread stall at Six Weeks of Summer by the office blocks at 2 & 3 Snow Hill. That’s right – into the city centre! Our motivation was to promote the cookery school to people outside of Stirchley and it was an intriguing toe in the water. We’re keen to try this some more, particularly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when we have capacity to bake extra, so if you have a lead on an office lobby with plenty of foot traffic that would benefit from a pile of sourdough bread for sale, do let us know.

Finally, Wednesday saw Pete representing Loaf at the Co-op National Youth Summit, appearing on a couple of panels. The world of co-operative businesses and organisations is wide and varied so it’s good to bring a worker’s co-op perspective to the proceedings. He obviously didn’t make too many faux pas as we’ve been asked to talk about our new building at the main Co-op Congress which will be held in Birmingham next June. Exciting!

Saturday focaccia is back

One of our major frustrations in the bakery over the last year has been fitting focaccia into the bake shift for Saturday morning. It either had to go in too early, in which case it wasn’t as fresh, or too late, in which case it was under done. But we think we’ve cracked it and for the last couple of Saturdays have had some lovely slabs of fugassa for sale. Fingers crossed we’ll be able to keep it up!

The caveat is, it comes out of the oven around 9am along with the fruit loaves, so it’s not for the early birds.

Birmingham LGBT is our charity for the rest of 2023

We’re delighted to announce that Loaf is fundraising for Birmingham LGBT from July through to the end of the year. This is an important cause for us, both as individuals and as a co-operative, and when looking for an organisation to support we were drawn to the work Birmingham LGBT does in counselling and mental health. This is apparently a hard area to fundraise for from the usual sources so individual donations and sponsorships are key to providing services. Here’s James, their development manager:

As Birmingham’s leading charity advocating for and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities in Birmingham and the West Midlands, we offer a range of services focused on improving the health and wellbeing of individuals, including:

sexual health promotion services
older people’s services
a domestic violence service
volunteering
befriending and peer mentoring
arts and cultural programmes
counselling and wellbeing support

A small £12 donation provides a safe meeting space for an hour for an LGBTQ+ community group to socialise, share ideas and have fun without fear of discrimination. We have over 20 groups who meet regularly at the centre, ranging from film clubs to support groups.

Just £25 provides a one-hour session with a counsellor or a domestic violence advocate, helping LGBTQ+ people to live an authentic life free from abuse and self-doubt.

And £120 pays for a three-hour trans youth group, fostering a fun, welcoming and inclusive environment for trans young people. Our support makes it possible for them to make new friends who share their experiences, and explore their identity in a safe space. A survey of the members of the group showed 100% had made new friends as a result, almost 90% said it had boosted their confidence and almost 75% said it had helped improve their self-esteem.

You can make a donation online with your order or in store at the counter.

As well as raising money we hope to work with Birmingham LGBT to raise awareness of their work through this newsletter and our shop, so watch for more!

Work begins on the SCD building

As many of you know, Loaf is part of a consortium of co-ops in Stirchley, Stirchley Co-operative Development (SCD), that are developing the land between Hunts Road and the British Oak. We started planning in 2016 so you can imagine how ecstatic we all are to see diggers levelling the ground ready for construction.

We had our ground breaking ceremony on Friday to mark the end of planning and the start of building. It was good to see a range of politicians in attendance – local councillors, our MP and the leader of the council – all supporting the core message of our project, that people thrive when they are in control of their housing.

You can read a press release about the ground breaking here. Thanks to all our friends and supporters who also attended. It was a really positive and rewarding day.

What does this mean for Loaf, practically speaking?

The biggest change is that we’ll be working in square rooms. Loaf’s bakery is currently a corridor on two levels and it’s not ideal. Our new premises has been designed for our needs rather than our needs being compromised to fit.

The cookery school will have a dedicated space. Currently it’s shared with the pastry, sweets and lunch shifts which, limits the amount of classes we can run. In the new building all this will move to the bakery so we’ll be able to schedule classes and activities every day. We’re excited to see how we can use this to broaden our reach and make our classes more accessible to the community.

The shop will be bigger. Like the bakery it’s currently a corridor with very little room but the new shop will have plenty more space for local products and baking supplies.

With 39 flats above us we’ll be part of an active community. We’re constantly interrogating what it means to be a ‘community bakery’ and being part of the co-op running the building will add a fascinating dimension to this. The people upstairs won’t just be potential customers – they’ll be colleagues and partners working with us towards our mutual goals. Will this change how we relate to the people who buy our bread? We shall see!

Ultimately it will give us stability. We will be in control of our rents and can’t be evicted for arbitrary reasons. While we currently have a friendly landlord and are grateful for all they’ve done for us, that could change and we would have no say in the process. The minimum life of the new building is 50 years and we want Loaf to be baking bread in, and for, Stirchley for at least that long.

Construction is scheduled to take a year and we should be able to move in from next autumn.

Exciting times!

Upcoming SCD events

There are a couple of events on the horizon for Stirchley Co-operative Development, the new building which will house Loaf, Birmingham Bike Foundry, Artefact and 39 apartments. It’s taken much longer than we anticipated but the land has been purchased, the builders contracted and things are about to, finally, get real.

Next Friday afternoon, 16 July, is the ground breaking ceremony where we’ll stick the first shovel in the ground, the press take some photos, and the start of construction is officially marked. We’ve put together a list of friends and long-term supporters of Loaf to invite but have doubtless forgotten a few. If you feel you should be on that list and have an interest in an equitable future for Stirchley, please drop us a note to info@loaf.coop and we’ll send you the details.

Then on Saturday 1st July we’ll have a stall at CoCoMad – our first in a long while. As well as selling cakes and pastries, and giving baking advice and tips, we’ll be talking about the new building and will have plenty of information to hand. If you have any questions, please do pop along and ask!

Pasta course went well!

The first of our revived, revised and reinvigorated Handmade Pasta classes ran last week and was a bit of a success! At least that’s what we can surmise from the only photo to emerge from the the evening.

This is one of the classes that has sold out this summer, but don’t worry, it will return in the autumn.

Interviewed for the Asahi Shimbu

Last week we had a visit from two reporters for the Asahi Shimbu, one of Japan’s leading newspapers, who are working on a feature about co-operatives. Apparently there’s a lot of interest in Japan about the co-op model and since the UK is the birthplace of the co-operative movement they’re visiting a number of businesses across the country.

It was great to spend a couple of hours getting into the nuts and bolts of how Loaf operates and how it differs from places we’ve worked before Loaf. To have someone question the things we take for granted – such as everyone getting paid the same rate and all decisions being made democratically – is healthy and we were able to confidently make our case.

We’re not sure when the article will appear – we were one of the first co-ops they’ve visited and they want to see some larger ones, like our supplier Suma, for contrast – but we’re looking forward to seeing what they made of us!

If you’re reading this as a member of a co-op and would like to be put in touch, let us know.

Farewell Ten Four

It’s with a heavy heart that we say goodbye (for now) to Ten Four Bakehouse, the other Real Bread bakery in Stirchley, who closed their doors on Saturday. It was very satisfying to discover that Stirchley could support two proper bakeries and to see one undone by rising costs beyond anyone’s control is particularly tough.

Some people assume there’s rivalry and drama between Ten Four and Loaf, but this has never been the case. The independent baking community is built on friendship and mutual support, and we’ve always lent other bakers flour or yeast in the knowledge that when we’re short they’ll be there to help us.

We wish Adam, his family and all the workers the best in these uncertain times. We hope for their speedy return and look forward to the next chapter of Ten Four.

Dog parking

At the height of the pandemic, when we moved our counter to the front door, a lot of you got in the habit of collecting your baked goods while walking your dog. This was lovely as we got to meet a wide range of your canine chums.

Since we opened the shop up again we’ve been a bit concerned about the hygiene issues around dogs in a food environment, so we’re going to revert to our previous rules of no dogs in the shop.

To help with this, we’re introducing a Canine Parking Zone (CPZ). On the right-hand side of the bakery shop door, we’ll put a chunky carabiner clip on the fixed metal hoop and invite you to secure your pup there while you pick up your loaves. (Assistance dogs are, of course, always allowed).

This is a work in progress and we welcome feedback!

A new vegan cookie appears

We are slowly increasing our range of vegan sweets and cakes, and this month are pleased to announce the arrival of a new contender. Please welcome the peanut butter dark chocolate cookie!

At Loaf we believe vegan cakes shouldn’t be a lesser choice. We work hard to ensure they’re as good, if not better, than those made with dairy. Our goal is to have a vegan option on the sweets board each day so make sure you ask next time you’re in.

Ten Acres Plum Festival

Our good friends at Sustainable Life are running their festival of the noble plum again this August, and are looking for volunteers, activities and stalls. Community events are free and businesses can get involved for a £20 fee.

This is a vibrant celebration festival of the Ten Acres Stirchley site and the River Rea, including a range of family friendly activities such as dance, drama and art/crafts. The festival will highlight the local area’s beauty and abundance with a focus on the two large plum groves on site, and will include walks, tours and conservation workshops/activities.

For more information email fota@tenacresconservation.co.uk

SIFA Fireside fundraising update

We’ve been taking donations for the homelessness charity SIFA Fireside since the start of 2023 and have raised £300 so far. Thanks to everyone who’s been able to donate — it’s really appreciated.

They’ve recently remodelled how they give support to those experiencing homelessness in Birmingham and this blog post gives a nice sense of what donations go towards providing.

They also post a lot to their Instagram, often highlighting the specific things they’re short of, from tins of beans to volunteers.

You can make cash donations with your online order at the checkout or at the shop counter through to the end of June. Thank you!

Happy May Day!

Today is the first and by any measure the most important bank holiday of the three we’ve been blessed with this month. For the last 130-odd years the first of May has been International Workers Day. As a worker cooperative, where all employees have equal responsibility for the business, we are part of this tradition of celebrating and supporting the people whose labour makes the world but who often seldom see a fair share of the rewards. At a time when the cost of living is increasing far faster than wages, and workers’ rights are being eroded, it’s worth taking some time out to remember why being a coop is not just a business decision but a political act.

Of course May Day has been around for much much longer. This is the day we mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring, when the days lengthen and the earth comes to life again. In this sense the holiday is about abundance and the potential of the year ahead. It reminds us that there is plenty to go around; it’s just not always managed sustainably or distributed fairly.

Because we open Tuesday to Saturday, and run a skeleton staff on Mondays, we don’t shut down for bank holidays. We decided to bundle them into our holiday allowance so people can choose to take them at a time that suits them, and it works well for us. It does mean we often forget one is coming up. But not May Day.

We ran our first Heritage Grain class on Saturday

Loaf’s Heritage Grain class has been in development for what seems like forever. After a year of planning it was due to run just as the pandemic hit. Then, while the cookery school was closed, we got deeper and deeper into the subject and decided to re-do it from scratch. Research trips to farms and conferences, and conversations with millers and suppliers, saw us trying a wider variety of wheats in the bakery and developing a hands-on understanding of what works and why. Over the last six months the bakers finessed their experiments into a coherent, teachable class, and on Saturday Rachel and Neil finally delivered it for the first time. Phew!

Running a class for the first time is always nerve-racking but we’re happy to say everyone enjoyed themselves and got a lot out of it. Heritage Grain will be run quarterly with the next class due in June. Sign up here to be notified as soon as the date is announced.