Men's mental health organisation to open coffee shop for all in historic Sunderland building
Profits will help tackle male suicide - but the coffee shop is for all.
Sunderland’s newest coffee shop will be serving brews with an important purpose.
The Echo can reveal that men’s mental health organisation, Space, will be opening a coffee shop and community space on the ground floor of The Friends Meeting Place building, which has seen a sympathetic transformation of the former tyre shop in Villiers Street, Sunniside.
A city-based social enterprise, Space has already had great success and built a solid reputation with its mobile coffee van, which has reached around 15,000 people over the past few years, working with organisations such as Sage, Barbour, BAM Construction and Sunderland AFC.
Space was founded by James Alan Fildes, who lived with depression for 10 years before a lightbulb moment on the day he planned to take his own life led to him forming a lifeline service for men.
Men in the North East die by suicide at a rate of 23.8 per 100,000, the highest of any English region.
The Space coffee shop, which is due to open in November, marks an important chapter in James’ mission to tackle those alarming figures.
By day, it will trade as a premium commercial coffee shop, open to everyone. By night, it will be a dedicated event space, with a quota of events aimed at creating alcohol-free, social opportunities for men.
Every penny of profit from the coffee shop will fund the delivery and expansion of Space’s free early intervention and prevention services for men, as well as region-wide expansion of the service called Mission2030.
Space’s existing free programme includes boxing, yoga, walking groups, peer support and personal development sessions, which are all free and available in the North East six days per week.
James said: “We've proven this works in Sunderland. Fifteen thousand men and women at the van, two thousand men through our free sessions last year alone.
“This is how we take it further, together as a region. We want people to come in, buy a coffee, and be part of the story.”
He added that it won’t be a mental health cafe.
“That distinction is deliberate,” he explained. “Space has built its reputation on reaching men who would never seek out anything labelled as a mental health service.
“The coffee shop is designed with that in mind: somewhere a man can turn up for a coffee with a mate, without ever having to name what he's really there for.
“If he needs it, he can discreetly find out what service is on that very same night or get signposting information for other relevant services across the region. If he doesn’t, he’s in a striking city centre venue, enjoying a delicious coffee.”
James is also keen to stress that everyone is welcome at the shop, regardless of gender, and the team has deliberately built women into the venue's programme from day one to stress that point.
*If you’re in the North East, Space North East can offer free, community-led support, 6 days per week. More on their services at thisisspace.co.uk
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here, day or night, 365 days a year, call free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org. CALM's helpline for men is open on 0800 58 58 58.
The Friends Meeting Place
Work is nearing completion on The Friends Meeting Place after a major investment of the entire corner block.
Dating back to the early 1800s, the cluster of three buildings occupies the corner of High Street West and Villiers Street.
Pre-covid, it was most well known as a tyre shop, but its history can be traced back two centuries to a time when Sunniside was thriving under Sunderland’s industrial boom.
In 1829, it hosted Sir William Chaytor & Co private bank, later being bought by Union Joint Stock Bank, and is an important building in the fabric of the area’s heritage.
While its ground floor was in use recently, its upper floors were derelict and in major need of repair.
Led by the Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust, the regeneration of the building has been supported by funding from Historic England, who have committed £923,208 along with significant investment from the Quakers.
The Quakers have taken on the lease of the building, which will now be called The Friends Meeting Place.
As well as being a meeting place for The Quakers, the upstairs of the building will also be a community hub, a mixed use space for a host of groups.
On the ground floor, shopfronts have been sympathetically restored, with Space taking on one unit and another business to be announced for the other.