NeighbourGood Café is set to open its doors on 30th June – 2nd July, bringing neighbours (and dogs) together to reignite the community spirit that blossomed over lockdown. Brought to you by home security company, Ring, customers can ‘pay’ for food and drink with a simple pledge of a good neighbourly deed. The café, based in Hackney, aims to encourage people to connect with the local community, try locally-sourced goods and learn more about the amazing people in the area.

The dog-friendly café follows recent research by Ring of 2,000 British adults that discovered a quarter (25%) of the nation became friendlier with their neighbours during lockdown. Over one third (36%) of Brits also felt their neighbourly spirit improved since restrictions were lifted*.

Once inside the NeighbourGood Café, visitors will be encouraged to write down their suggested good deed and pin it to a dedicated ‘pledge board’ on the following categories:
Good SKILLS: e.g helping fix a fence or replant a community garden
Good MINUTES: e.g offering to dog sit for a neighbour
Good ENERGY: e.g introduce yourself to a new neighbour
Good BUSINESS: e.g pledging to support a local business or charity

After pledging their deed, visitors can enjoy locally produced drinks, cakes and pastries that were chosen following a poll* of Hackney residents to determine their favourites. Brownies were voted no.1 community favourite, followed by cinnamon buns, pain au chocolat and chocolate cake. Coffee and hot chocolate will also feature in the café as Hackney’s favourite drinks. In addition to the locally-sourced food, guests can enjoy board games, read books about Hackney, and feel inspired by stories of local ‘heroes’ – people who’ve gone above and beyond for their community.

Ring’s NeighbourGood Café can be found at 12 Sidworth Street, E8 3SD. Doors open from Thursday 30th June at 12.30pm, and will be open from 8:00am-4pm daily until Saturday 2nd July. No booking is required and dogs are of course welcome!