A message from the Chair
Dunbar Community Bakery is leaking!
Every town needs a High Street and every High Street needs a bakery. So when Dunbar’s last family run bakery closed in 2010. a group of Sustaining Dunbar’s members set out to discover if the community could run a bakery.
The answer was a resounding YES!
We’ve faced and overcome many challenges over these 14 years. We survived the pandemic – as a food retailer – but the killer blow was the eye watering price hike in electricity costs over the festive period 2022/23. It was a bleak Christmas for us, but we could not face switching off the lights – and the ovens – and walking away. It was Dunbar’s strong sense of community that carried us through.
With careful management, a large dollop of volunteer input, and with our wonderful, loyal, core staff – Tegan, Joan and Pawel, we nursed the business back to health with great determination and commitment. Nearly three years on, we are now proud to say that we are delivering our aims to create jobs and training opportunities, strengthen the local economy, and bringing people to the High Street more effectively than ever.
Our annual turnover is now over £400,000 and we provide jobs for 12 people from sixteen to their sixties, with working hours to suit their lives. Our hardworking staff are committed to the bakery, because it’s a happy and positive working environment. Last year our staff costs were just over £200,000. They are all local people, so most of this money is spent in the town which helps support other local businesses. We aspire to be a living wage employer.
But now, we need your help to keep the roof over our heads—literally.
The bake house roof is in urgent need of repairs. Wear and tear has led to a leak where the bakehouse (the back extension) joins the main building, threatening the space where the bakers work – and sadly there is NO grant support for this much needed repair.
We are launching this fundraiser to raise funds to cover essential roof work costing £10,000 to ensure our bakery maintains a safe, dry, and hygienic space for our wonderful team and customers.
We’re halfway there—but we need your help to reach the finish line.
Every donation—big or small—helps us patch things up and keep the ovens warm. Whether you’re a regular customer, a supporter of local enterprise, or someone who believes in the power of community, we’d be so grateful for your support.
Donate and help us keep the spirit (and the sourdough starters) alive!
Contact chair@dunbarcommunitybakery.co.uk for details.
Isobel Knox, chair of DCB