COFFEE, cake and bacon sarnies helped to successfully launch a new community business in Herefordshire.

Social Fabric, made up of a group of friends from the Much Birch area, hosted the first Community Cafe, appropriately at the village's community hall.

It coincided with fourth national Community Business Weekend, held to

celebrate the work of the 8,000 community businesses across England.

Community businesses are organisations rooted in a local area, run by and answerable to members of the community. They range from skate parks to libraries, tea rooms to vineyards and have a combined income of £1.2bn in England.

More than 100 people visited the Community Cafe.

Rebecca Semple, from Social Fabric, said: “We were thrilled by the attendance, and not just people from the immediate area.

"We even managed to attract a cycling team that was passing by in the midst of a four-day excursion from Essex to Newport.

As well as food, the cafe offered table tennis, board games and crafts.

"The Community Business Weekend celebrations was a great occasion to launch Community Cafe, but the plan for Social Fabric is to build on the success of this first event and provide regular opportunities to strengthen community links and provide relaxed and fun events for all ages.”

Vidhya Alakeson, Chief Executive at Power to Change, the independent trust behind the wider weekend, said: “The beauty of community business is that anyone can get involved, either setting one up or becoming a valued customer.

"One of our priorities is to help communities to harness the skills, leadership and entrepreneurialism that already exist at the local level."

Community businesses in England employ 33,600 paid staff and 125,200 volunteers.

For more about Social Fabric’s monthly Community Café, email socialfabric@hotmail.com.