Eat Well MCR, the Manchester charity founded by chef Mary-Ellen McTague, has opened a community café in Hapurhey.
Taking on the kitchen at the No. 93 Wellbeing Centre, the move brings together Eat Well MCR’s mission of accessible food with the centre’s longstanding role supporting mental health and community wellbeing.
The new Eat Well MCR at Café 93 will offer breakfast, lunch and snacks priced between £1 and £3. Dishes will include beans on toast, bacon sandwiches, full cooked breakfasts, soups, jacket potatoes, toasties and daily hot specials. All food will be prepared with the same approach the organisation uses across its wider meal-delivery work.
The charity, founded by chef Mary-Ellen McTague, Gemma Saunders and Kathleen O’Connor, has delivered more than 154,000 meals across Greater Manchester since launching in 2020, originally intending to find a solution to the food wasted when restaurants had to close due to the pandemic.
“We understand that a café isn’t just about food,” said Mary-Ellen. It’s a place to sit, to feel welcome, to meet people, or to have a moment of peace. For some, it might be the only place they speak to someone all day. For others, it’s a way to eat well on a tight budget. But for everyone, it’s about care.”
Alongside the daily menu, the café will prepare 10 additional meals each day to be frozen and distributed to centre users on Fridays, extending Eat Well MCR’s existing model of providing meals to people facing hardship.
No. 93 Wellbeing Centre, which offers free drop-in sessions, counselling, creative activities and peer-support groups, will integrate the café into its wider programme. The addition is intended to increase access to food, social connection and informal community support.
“This café is as much about people as it is about food,” she added. “We’re incredibly proud to be working alongside the brilliant team at No. 9, who’ve long been doing vital, often unseen work. We hope the café can offer something extra — a warm seat, a decent meal, and a reason to smile.”
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