Family
In 2016 Philip and Karen with their two sons moved to Oldfield Park.
Working with the RUH, University of Bath, Bath Spa University, faith groups and charities they found themselves loving the people and the area.
They dreamt of a place which would celebrate the Oldfield Park neighbourhood, and be a place where long-standing and new residents could pull up a chair.
Friends, colleagues, neighbours and students have encouraged us on our way. Dozens of people have at some point held a paint brush in their hand, bringing colour to the cafe.
Fresh
We like taking what is in season and creating food that tastes real.
We love our weekly delivery of organic seasonal veg from a farm in Weston, Bath. We are excited to be supporting Grow for Life, a social and therapeutic gardening charity, and celebrating their organically grown surplus produce. Three times a week we receive milk directly from a farm just south of Bath that is gently pasteurised but whole and non homogenised. Bacon and sausages are supplied by the local butcher. When not baking ourselves we buy our bread from Bath-based bakeries. We are delighted when our neighbours bring in the veg they have grown and barter for coffee!
Most of what we sell is made on site. We prepare food for you that we’d like to eat ourselves - fresh, local and as natural as possible.
Meet
The Covid-19 pandemic reminded us that life is precious and can be up-ended very quickly. There is no better time than today to make friends with those around us.
We want Bright Field to be a place where everyone feels welcome, regardless of age or ability. We strive to make sure that there is something for everyone on the menu, always making sure there are items with gluten-free or dairy-free ingredients. We try to make sure there are affordable choices and have been overwhelmed with the generosity of our neighbours enabling our ‘pay it forward’ scheme, so that anyone who is having a hard day has the option of a free hot drink. There is a room at the rear of the cafe that can be reserved for friends, work colleagues or neighbours to gather together. There is an accessible toilet, books, a high chair and toys.
There is more we need to do, and we welcome your ideas for extending our welcome to everyone in our community.
Sustain
We want to give back to the place where we live, and not add any more to the world’s difficulties along the way.
We’ve designed a cafe that takes less energy, and gives as much energy as possible. Our roof PV panels provide almost all of our summer electricity and we’ve installed ASHP to keep us warm in the winter.
We support local suppliers and where we have to buy from far away, like with coffee, tea and chocolate, it is important to us that there is third-party fairtrade or organic certification.
It’s a priority for us to minimise waste. We stay away from plastic as much as possible. Our coffee, milk and veg arrives in containers that are washed and used again. We recycle and compost. You can put our takeaway cups in your compost, and we’d happily let you have our used coffee grounds for your garden.
Living sustainably takes thought, commitment and encouragement. Please share your wisdom, and let us know if you think our journey can help yours.
Open
We opened our cafe with the hope of adding brightness to the world. Whether you are a parent with a toddler, a wheelchair user, in rush or needing a place to ‘be’, we look forward to giving you a warm welcome.
Contact us
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!