Fields is GO!!!

Last Sunday we kicked off our latest venture in Ladywell Fields with an opening party and it's fair to say things escalated rather quickly!

So many people turned up that we were genuinely a bit overwhelmed. There were queues for coffee, queues for food, big queues for the beer and really big queues for the ice cream!

The music was playing, the chickens were roasting and everywhere you looked there were families, friends and groups of people having a great time in the sunshine. The atmosphere was incredible…

Firstly, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along to wish us well on our latest adventure and help us get Fields off to such an amazing start. It was genuinely emotional to see the support, encouragement and kindness from a community that we're proud to be part of!

We also owe a special thank you to all the people who arrived for a party and somehow ended up helping out instead. The many friends who disappeared in search of emergency bags of ice from increasingly distant corners of South East London. The teams from Wilson's, Oscar's and Plenty who all piled in when it became clear that things were getting more than a little hectic. And Joel’s Mum, who came for a glass of wine and somehow spent three hours scooping ice cream!

As the dust has settled this week, we've found ourselves reflecting on why the opening felt so special…

Obviously we're excited about the café itself. We've spent months planning it, building it and worrying about it. But what was so encouraging about Sunday was seeing how many people were excited about having somewhere to gather in the park again.

For all the online communities, WhatsApp groups and social media, people still really value physical places where they can spend time together. Somewhere to meet friends, grab a coffee, let the kids run around, bump into neighbours or simply sit in the sunshine for half an hour!

Watching hundreds of people do exactly that throughout the afternoon was a powerful reminder of why we wanted to take on this project in the first place.

We believe Ladywell Fields can be one of the best parks in South East London and we're excited to play a small part in helping make that happen.

Of course, after the excitement of the opening party, this week it's been down to business. We've been getting to grips with the day-to-day reality of running a park café, ironing out a few kinks and learning what people want and need from us.

As always, we're open to feedback and suggestions, so please do come and say hello if you see us around…

Weekdays: 8:30am–4pm

Weekends: 8:30am–6pm

There will undoubtedly be bumps in the road. We've already found a few. But we're here for the long term and we're committed to getting Fields right for the whole community.

So whether it's a morning coffee, a bacon roll after the school run or lunch in the sunshine at the weekend, we'd love to see you!

And, if you'd like to follow along with the journey, give Fields a follow on Instagram where we'll be announcing weekend food traders, events and a few collaborations we've got planned for the summer ahead!

See you in the park!