Justin Visits Cafe Supporting Local Homeless People

North Swindon MP and Work & Pensions Minister Justin Tomlinson has visited social enterprise Health and Wellness Juices, a juice café run in conjunction with homelessness charity Threshold.

Mark Mutlow, a former resident at Threshold’s Culvery Court, was inspired to start the business after discovering the health benefits of fruit and vegetable juices while staying at Culvery Court.

The Canal Walk based café, which was gifted to the initiative by The Brunel Centre, serves fresh juices using a variety of vegetables and fruit donated by local businesses. Customers can choose one of the recommended juices or create one of their own. It is run by volunteers and provides positive progression pathways for current and former Threshold service users.

Nine weeks on from opening, the café is proving popular and there are plans to start serving simple food such as toasties and jacket potatoes, with the ultimate aim of the cafe being able to provide paid opportunities for homeless people.

Justin Tomlinson MP said “I am very excited about this venture. I see a huge amount of potential and really commend Mark and the team for having the vision to make this happen. I really want to see this become a sustainable and viable business which can provide opportunities to homeless people in Swindon, and would urge people to really get behind this initiative.”