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Community space promoting mental wellbeing coming to Tunbridge Wells
14:43, 26 November 2019
updated: 16:40, 29 November 2019
A health and wellbeing community space is due to open at a formerly neglected bowls pavilion.
The Inside, based in Calverley Grounds, Tunbridge Wells, is set to open on Sunday, December 8, and will be used as a café and a place for activities "for the soul."
The owner, Laura Parker, of Manor Close, who teaches crochet and weaving at festivals and in schools, said it will be a calming and relaxing place for adults to enjoy.
She said: "At the venue we aren't surrounded by anything. You can hear the birds and the parrots, it is lovely. I don't think this vision would work in another building."
To pay for the £15,000 worth of renovations, the 39-year-old set up a Crowdfunder page which raised more than £13,000 in 28 days.
Interior curator Justine Barker, owner of Barker Design in Albion Road, Tunbridge Wells, designed the inside of the building.
From 9am to 2pm, every day except Wednesdays, the space will be used as a café, with plant-based food, including favourites such as smashed avocado on toast and paninis, and artisan coffee.
Visitors can make use of the headphones dotted around the room which will play a variety of empowering and uplifting podcasts.
Some choices include Holly Tucker's, Conversations of Inspiration, in which she interviews people about their journeys to becoming business owners and Fearne Cotton's, Happy Place, which aims to help people find their inner happiness despite the pressures of life.
Mrs Parker has worked with Fearne in the past as part of her Happy Place Festival.
In the afternoons there will be an abundance of different classes and workshops to attend, including acupuncture, reiki and yoga.
Mrs Parker said she welcomes any activity that supports physical and mental health.
Anyone interested in using the space should contact her via her website the-inside.co.uk.
Mrs Parker said: "‘I am utterly thrilled to be bringing a long-held dream to life. This will not be your average park coffee stop. This will be a space our town will be proud to boast about, visit and be part of."
