After the success of our crowdfund in December 2016, we launched straight in to trying to find a building. We looked at a number of properties, but in the end we put all our eggs in one basket for one place, and worked on things like planning permission and Change of Use for a few months. However, there were just one too many hoops to jump through and barriers in the way, and we ended up giving up on that building in May 2017.

However, weeks later, June 2017, a landlord approached us having seen The Real Junk Food Project Leeds on the news. He had an empty shop and huge warehouse which was at the top of the high street in Chester-Le-Street town centre. It was in a perfect location and had bags of potential.

Architects drawings, building control approval, budgets and interior designs by Catherine Muir followed and we soon realised we were facing a pretty mammoth project. The property was a shell: no full ceilings, no walls for kitchens or toilets, no gas, electricity or water.

Stay tuned to see the transformation, and how it happened, with the help of a great number of incredible individuals and the power of community spirit!