Did you know there’s a cafe in Dundee that is inspiring social change and leading the way for equality across the city?
Nope, nor did Dundee Live until we discovered Serendipities - a hugely popular local enterprise in the form of a ‘cosy, quirky cafe’ that believes in equality for all.
Everything they do is building toward socially and environmentally sustainable communities.
Serving delicious homemade vegan sweet and savoury foods as well as responsibly sourced hot drinks, they reuse as much as they can to lessen any negative impacts on the environment.
The Union Street cafe uses excess food from supermarkets, through the Fareshare programme, and turns this into cooked meals to prevent unnecessary landfill waste.
They have a super-varied set menu, as well as a specials board with meals that change every day.
Danielle du Plooy, Founder and Manager, is rightly proud of her team’s achievements.
She told us: “As well as producing some lovely food we are a training cafe and registered social enterprise.
“We offer an inclusive training programme aimed at individuals with additional needs, learning disabilities, autism and mental health barriers, developing life skills, and gaining knowledge and practical skills in hospitality.
“Serendipities is a positive, alternative way of thinking, where people develop confidence to be the change.
“This space is a story: a story of strength, a story of community, a story of growth.
“It demonstrates how to work inclusively, raising awareness of people’s roles in this world and showing that anyone can achieve incredible things.
“Customers buy into a way of life, helping to develop the professional skills of our members and provide a safe working space.”
Serendipities’ food is exceptional with people travelling from across Tayside to sample it.
All meals come with a side salad while their soup is pay what you want all week, to ensure all individuals can access a hot meal.
The cafe also has a pay what you want scheme on hot drinks every Tuesday, and we have free fruit available at the counter.
All the dishes are Serendipities’ own recipes with the two 2 most popular savoury dishes being their Savoury French Toast and Breakfast
Quesadilla which is a Toasted Tortilla wrap with scrambled tofu, beans, breakfast chutney & 2 meaty fillings.
Danielle has some amazing plans for 2022 too.
She explained: “We plan to run evening workshops and events from March in the cafe space including creative workshops, food related workshops, mindfulness and music nights.
“We are currently looking for artists to use our exhibition space from May onwards. We don't charge for this use, we just want to give an opportunity to local artists.
“We are also currently opening a third location, ReBoutique! - an upcycle shop, selling clothes, furniture, household items and plants, all upcycled and grown by us and our clients.”
And she added: “We plan to keep fighting waste and reduce our footprint even further by removing more single- use plastic.
“We will provide further training and skill opportunities for our volunteers and keep spreading love and good vibes.”
-For more information on Serendipities and its amazing impact on Dundee visit the Facebook page here and their website here.
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