Growing Optimism

There's a version of Berko that visitors see — the high street, the castle, The Rex — and then there's the version locals treasure.

Sunnyside Rural Trust has been part of that quieter Berko for thirty years. The charity supports young people and adults with learning disabilities through horticulture, wellbeing services and running three cafes. Not cafés as an afterthought but as social enterprises that fund the charity's work while giving the people they support real, meaningful hospitality experience.

I'd walked past the Northchurch site more times than I could count before I actually stopped. That turned out to be a mistake.

Thirty years of growing things, it turns out, leaves quite a harvest. Some of it edible, a lot of it social.

At Sunnyside Rural Trust, we provide valuable work experiences for young people and adults with learning disabilities in West Hertfordshire. Through horticulture, community projects, wellbeing services, and social enterprises, we empower individuals to build skills, boost confidence, and thrive.

All three of our cafés and farm shops are true hidden gems! Visit them all!

Our Sunnyside Up café & farm shop has a welcoming and friendly ambience, perfect for both families and dogs. Nestled in a sunlit area, the café features outdoor seating and is a favoured stop for those strolling along the canal.

Our Northchurch café & farm shop is set in a tranquil and beautiful green space. Here, you can pick up your weekly veg box and enjoy a hot drink, homemade cakes and our lunch menu, including delicious vegetarian and vegan options.

Sitting beside the library at The Forum, The Kitchen Café is run by our wonderful Sunnyside and DENS staff and volunteers. On offer is a range of handmade sandwiches, hot lunches and barista-made coffee.

We take pride in sourcing local produce and supporting our community businesses. Our menu features a range of wholesome lunches, including a great selection of vegetarian and vegan choices. However, if we had to make a recommendation, we would definitely suggest a generous slice of one of our homemade cakes!

Every day in our cafés starts with preparing the coffee machine for the busy day ahead, along with performing essential checks such as cleaning and monitoring refrigerator temperatures. The team then gets to work preparing cakes and pastries, determining the day's baking, and whipping up fresh soups, baked potatoes, and salads. Depending on the season, we also harvest produce and collect eggs from our sites to be used in the cafe or to be sold in our farm shops.

Our most memorable story from the last 30 years is the opening and running of 3 excellent cafes, helping support our organisation through social enterprise. We are especially proud of our cafes for providing opportunities for our young people and adults with learning disabilities to develop hospitality skills. We hope to expand our café endeavours to further support our organisation in the future.

If you are keen to support our organisation, we host numerous events on our sites alongside running plant & produce stalls at external events throughout the year. To find out more, you can follow us on our social media pages: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.

We are also always grateful for donations, which can be made through our website.

10 Mar | Northchurch Social Centre | 14:00 - 15:30 | Community Fridge

10 Mar | The Highwayman | 19:30 | Quiz Night

10 Mar | Berkhamsted Civic Centre | 20:00 | Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers (film screening) — Berkhamsted Film Society screens this documentary exploring Van Gogh's revolutionary years in southern France | Details

11 Mar | Berkhamsted Civic Centre | 10:30 | How to Get Down from a Yak: Adventures in Central Asian Nomadic Textiles — Arts Society Tring Park talk exploring the little-known nomadic textile cultures of the Kyrgyz, Turkoman and Karakalpak peoples. Speaker: Chris Aslan | Details

11 Mar | The Kings Arms | 19:30 | I'm Not Psychic — A Mentalism Show by Sylar — a weekly mentalism show running every Wednesday through March and April | Details

11 Mar | The Crystal Palace | 19:30 | Quiz Night

11 Mar | Markova Theatre, Tring | 19:30 | CMC – The Original Takeover — Tring Park School's Commercial Music Course takes over the theatre for a two-hour gig of popular covers and original material | Details

11 Mar | Berkhamsted Civic Centre | 20:00 | Archaeology on the HS2 line — Doug Stuckley, Chairman of Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society, talks about the surface bed being excavated for HS2 | Details

12 Mar | Markova Theatre, Tring | 19:30 | CMC – The Original Takeover — Tring Park School's Commercial Music Course takes over the theatre for a two-hour gig of popular covers and original material | Details

13 Mar | Tring Market Place | 12:00–17:00 | Tring Spring Feastival — street food and live music across the weekend

13 Mar | Berkhamsted Civic Centre | 18:00 - 22:30 | Berko Beer Fest: Comedy Evening & Pop Up Beer Bar — Shaparak Khorsandi, Joe Bor, Ian Stone and Paul Revill, plus a pop-up beer bar. A proper Friday night out | Details

13 Mar | Centenary Theatre | 19:30 | The Ultimate Mod Revue — doors 18:30 — a high-voltage live show celebrating the best of Mod, from The Who and The Jam to Small Faces, Ocean Colour Scene and The Kinks, performed with a big screen backdrop charting the era | Details

13 Mar | Mad Squirrel | 19:00 - 21:00 | Rev Ferriday — the Rev is back for an evening with the blues, get ready for some foot-tapping fun

14 Mar | Tring Market Place | 09:00–17:00 | Tring Spring Feastival — street food and live music across the weekend

14 Mar | Little Gaddesden Village Hall | 10:00 - 12:00 | Jumble Sale — 1st Little Gaddesden Scout Group sale with bric-a-brac, books, clothes, toys, cakes, tea, coffee and bacon rolls

14 Mar | Berkhamsted Civic Centre | 19:30 | Kleio Quartet — an evening of chamber music featuring Webern, Beethoven, Britten and Mendelssohn | Details

14 Mar | Centenary Theatre | 19:30 | Mark Steel: The Leopard in My House — doors 18:30 — the BAFTA-nominated comedian brings his new tour to Berko, turning his battle with throat cancer into a comedy show that's as politically sharp and gloriously bonkers as ever | Details

14 Mar | The Goat | 21:00 - 23:55 | Magoo — four-piece rock band, old, new and boogaloo

14 Mar | St Peter and St Paul Church, Tring | 19:30 | Tring Choral Society Spring Concert — Vivaldi's Gloria and Haydn's Harmony Mass, with four soloists and a professional orchestra

14 Mar | Victoria Hall, Tring | 20:00 | Strictly Cabaret — Zebra Jazz Collective and Tring Phoenix Big Band with special guest singers, exhibition dancing, and live Motown and soul from Tring School Swingband and guests

15 Mar | Tring Market Place | 10:00–16:00 | Tring Spring Feastival — street food and live music across the weekend

15 Mar | High Street | 10:00 - 14:00 | Berkhamsted Farmers' Market

15 Mar | The Vyne Theatre | 18:30 | Othello — filmed live at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, David Harewood, Toby Jones and Caitlin FitzGerald in Shakespeare's great tragedy of jealousy and manipulation, directed by Tony Award-winner Tom Morris with music by PJ Harvey | Details

16 Mar | The Bull | 19:00 | Quiz Night — £12pp entry + prizes + food at half time (£2 per head goes to Mind Mental Health)

If you want to tell us (and other locals!) about something happening, use this form!

12 Mar | The Rex | 14:00 | Marty Supreme (15)

Josh Safdie's solo venture is a bruising, propulsive portrait of ambition, set in the early 1950s and loosely inspired by table-tennis icon Marty Reisman. Safdie uses the world of competitive ping-pong as a springboard into a sharper study of American identity, class and self-invention, built around an Oscar-hungry performance from Timothée Chalamet.

10 Mar | Berkhamsted FC | Men's First Team | 19:45 KO (h) | vs. Hanwell Town

11 Mar | Berkhamsted FC | Development | 19:45 KO (h) | vs. Penn & Tylers Green U23 (cup)

14 Mar | Berkhamsted FC | Men's First Team | 15:00 KO (h) | vs. Gloucester City

That’s your lot for this week.

If you found something useful, share us with your friends.

Happy sproutin’.

— from Berko.