Rising Again: Homebaked Anfield opens this weekend
It was one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns this city’s ever witnessed. Such was the hope, love, and the will to succeed we all invested in this corner cafe and bakery, that it raised nearly £6,000 more than its target.
After over two years of community engagement, Homebaked Community Land Trust was born. The project grew out of a Liverpool Biennial strand, 2Up 2Down, with artist Jeanne van Heeswijk. The aim? To refurbish the bakery, provide workspace for social enterprise, and build affordable housing.
“We were inspired by CLTs in Boston, East London, and Cumbria,” Homebaked’s Britt Jurgensen tells SevenStreets as we tuck into a seriously excellent pork pie. “These projects work. There is a track record of them providing employment, training and learning opportunities. Of them turning an area around.”
By giving people their daily bread, Homebaked is set to regenerate the high street, and reenergise one of our city’s most blighted communities. They are, in short, doing what Pathfinder, Strategic Frameworks, successive councils and world class football clubs have singly failed to do: give hope back to Anfield.
“Homebaked will open its doors six days a week from 26th of October,” Jurgensen says. “It’s a place for local people to buy fresh, affordable bakery products, to serve match day customers and tourists generated by the football club. Any surplus we create will be reinvested into the business for community benefit.”
Why is north Liverpool so important to you?
Jayne Lawless (Homebaked member, grew up on Granton Road, two streets down from the bakery): “All of Liverpool is important, North, South, East, West…you have a special bond with where you grew up though which for me was around the bakery. Our area has had an exceptionally tough time of late and needs desperately to bounce back. “
Britt Jurgensen (Homebaked member, lives on Breck Road): “I moved to Anfield five years ago. This is the most at home I have felt in many years. To be honest a lot of that is due to Homebaked. It gave me the possibility of meeting people of all ages and working towards a common goal brought us very close together.
Cathy Alderson and Gill Roberts (have lived in North Liverpool most of their lives, both live in the same street and trained as nurses together, they are die-hard LFC fans): “Because we live here and our football team is based here. The best one, that is. The first team, if you know what I mean!” (SevenStreets is pleased to hear that even Homebaked has its faults…)
What’s gone wrong in Anfield?
Jayne: “I don’t think it’s just a ‘North’ thing, if you look at the stand out reason, HMRI, which happened in the South Liverpool too…and the North North End (Bootle), but round Anfield/Everton you throw in a multi million pound global company (LFC) on top. Then you have a difficult mix, we have a ‘live-in’ community and a ‘visiting community’ every home game - there has to be a balance.
Britt: “I would say it is incredibly complex and different for every street, every home. People’s hopes have been raised and shattered many times. Here at Homebaked we are hoping to do our part in creating change for our neighbourhood,”
Cathy and Gill: “We think we have been let down in the past but we’re hopeful that things will get better now. We would like to actively take part in regenerating our area, that’s why we volunteer at Homebaked.”
What do we need to do to make the area rise again?
Jayne: “Support. All welcome. From each other, from within and embrace those from outside who want to join in!”
Britt:“Value what is already here and nurture our skills and confidence. Support local businesses. Allow new people in, try different ways of doing things. Make sure that monetary and social investment stays in the area. “
Cathy and Gill: “We need people in authority to listen to us, because we are experts about our own neighbourhood. We know what is viable and we want to take active ownership in making it happen.”
Psychologists might call our passion for Homebakes’ mooted match-day Pie Hole transference: the redirection of feelings toward another object. God, yes, we want Homebaked to succeed - but the real desire? That this oven in the heart of Anfield fires up a community, and convinces a council that, given the right tools, it’s residents that turn our city around, not half-baked policies.
Homebaked
199 Oakfield Road
Anfield