So there comes a time where dissatisfaction with doing a job just so you can get money to live (albeit a necessity) gets too much. For husband and wife Nick & Linda Castle it was a series of late night conversations that made them change direction. What would you like to do with your life if money were no object.

 

Cielo was born out of a heart to see community become a verb and not just a noun. And there is no better place to find communal ground than over coffee.

In the days of old communities were supported by local shops where all the produce from veg to furniture were sourced locally thereby supporting the area. Well these days it is impossible and unaffordable to source all our consumer needs locally (we can't grow coffee in the uk yet!) but we can be responsible for trying to source everything as locally and ethically as possible. We can also commit to put ALL our profits back into the local community. 

Cielo is a Social Enterprise. We want to be a successful business that offers the best quality and product in our market, and one that makes lots of money to put back into the community. But we will commit to always remain far more affordable than our competitors. 

Cielo was set up to do two things; (i) build better community cohesion and (ii) reduce loneliness. We think a coffee house is a great start.

 

 

We want building community and reducing loneliness to be at our core, whether it is creating a community space or where we give our profits to or how we treat our customers. It all matters.

 

Nick & Linda Castle

Founders

 

Since the organisations birth in 2008 Cielo (formerly Baraka) has been guided along by Nick & Linda Castle with the loads of help from people in the local community. Whether that was the owners of the local bookshop who gifted their whole business to Cielo to try and give it a future, or the dedicated volunteers who turn up week in week out to give their 2 hours to making other people smile or many others doing their bit.

Cielo is still managed but Nick and Linda with Linda taking on the role of Head Roaster and all things sourcing and blending and Nick spends a lot of time working out how to do things better and make a wider impact in lots more communities.

Operations are overseen by Vicki who has been with us since opening day in 2008, whilst our Barista skills are trained and improved by our head Barista Andrew who has worked in all our stores and met most of our customers.

On a daily basis, we have some amazing Duty Managers who would love to answer any of your questions if you just pop into the store.

We also have other paid staff who help maintain a level of consistency for your experience as a guest (we like to call our customers guests coz you are so much more than a way of making money). 

And then we have around 40 weekly volunteers in each Cielo store, who do everything from serving you at the till, to our payroll, and a non-exec board of directors who oversee the governance and ensure we are being exactly who we say we are. Integrity is one of our values.

PAID STAFF 

If you would like to join the paid staff team as either Duty Manager, or Barista, then the best thing to do is drop us an email with your cv, and a cover letter telling us why you would like to work at Cielo. And we will let you know if there are any current vacanies.

VOLUNTEERS

If you would like to volunteer, then just drop in when you can and ask for our Duty Managers. They will chat to you about what is involved and give you a form to fill in.

There are many different motivations for why people do things. For us, our values stem from our Christian faith.

Our social mission is about doing the right thing, our values are about doing this in the right way. Our values are not just something we talk about; they are embedded into the way we do things. They can be felt in all of our operations and they are about how all staff and volunteers work and behave towards each other. They are there to benefit our organisation but, just as importantly, to bring benefit to everyone we come into contact with.

We have broken our values down into four areas; 

Exuberance

Laugh Live and Love life. Cielo exudes positivity, gives hope and sensitively loves all those whose journeys we share together. We will laugh with people but be there to share the difficult times too.

Giving

From customer service to investing in the community, Cielo delights in serving others. We take pleasure in seeing the benefit that people gain through our work and support. We will give encouragement and unconditional help to raise the confidence and aspirations of our staff and volunteers and of individuals & communities.

Integrity

There is a new way of doing business that is needed in todays world - business that operates with honesty and is not self-serving. At Cielo we work tirelessly because success to us is more than a business doing well, it is a community doing well.

Humility

Too often people fail to be treated with the grace and empathy they deserve. At Cielo we value all and accept all with open arms. Although acknowledging of the things we do well, we are also teachable spirits with a desire to listen and learn. We are thankful for the faith that inspired our beginning and grateful for the wonderful talents, gifts, skills and experiences that others can share.