Karuna Coffee House

We want to be a place for our community to connect, create, contemplate and unwind.

On the top floor we’re already running Karuna Action which provides education, healthcare and income generation support to hundreds of people in 11 countries around the world.

We’ve been doing this bit in Aldershot since 1988. Also on the top floor is a small office where you might want to sit and work. It’s somewhere that, if you work from home, is less isolated. We have made sure this space is flexible and comfortable while remaining part of the administrative hub of the building.

 

The first floor is where the community can come in and use our space. We have a resident potter, Cath Raine, who is also a Trustee of Karuna Action. As a local artist Cath aims to run workshops in this space for the budding potters among us but also as a way for people to connect, finding time to centre yourself and unwind from the stresses life throws at us. Cath is a professional ceramicist having tought in the art department at Cranleigh School for a number of years and also taught workshops for a variety of groups, big and small, from her home pottery. To find out more about the pottery please get in touch using our contact details below.

Also on the first floor we have a Makers Space which doubles up as a multimedia meeting room. This is a multipurpose space where anything could happen. This will be made available to book once all lockdown measures are permanently lifted.

 

We have a second smaller room on the first floor which is a more informal setting if you are just after somewhere to sit and chat with up to 4 people. The team gravitate towards this room as it’s a great place to just relax and get away from the daily grind (coffee pun 100% intended).

 

In the basement we have our Selah space - Selah is a Hebrew word for pause and reflect. This will be a place that people can get away from the noise of life, down in the bowels of the building it’s a naturally still and quiet place. We imagine people may want to use this for various activities but particularly encouraging times of reflection, guided silence and more sedatory activities. If the café is busy we will likely use this space as an overflow for those that want to escape the noise.

 

On the ground floor we have the café area to the front, this area will likely be run 75% with voluntary help as part of our community engagement. We want to encourage people to engage with the Karuna Coffee house from every part of our community, volunteers might be part of a routes to employment programme or just someone who wants to help a local charity in their retirement. Towards the back of the ground floor we have the coffee roastery, something Karuna Action has been doing in Aldershot since 2014 as a way of raising funds. The roastery will host some interactive experience based courses which may tie in with some of the voluntary work throughout everything we do in the building. However, there will be times where we open up specifically for the local budding coffee aficionado to run some introductory courses to coffee, from bean to cup.

Why Aldershot, why now?

To be honest we love our town and all that our diverse community has to offer, we really want to be part of the positive changes that are happening in our town centre. We hope to provide you with something that will make Aldershot proud, not just something that is half-hearted and only about profit. We want to be something different, a community hub where people come first, a place where we have “the eyes to see that no visitor arrives without a gift and no guest leaves without a blessing”

 

Rooms

To book any of the spaces mentioned above please email: office@karunaaction.org or call 01252 333233

Room bookings are free but we do suggest, if you are able, that you make a donation to Karuna Action, to help us with the upkeep of the rooms.

Pottery

For pottery enquiries please contact Cath on: cath@coffeehousepottery.uk

Roastery

For all coffee related enquiries please contact Lewis at: lewis@karunaaction.org or call 01252 333233