Wellness groups to open new Perth city centre cafe to help wellbeing and create jobs

Community groups in Perth are working together on plans for a new wellness cafe.

Jess and Andy Douglas of the Scotland All-Strong gym have teamed up with Linda Fisken of Linda’s Ladies to launch The Well of Perth.

A fundraising page has been set up to help make the project a reality.

Linda said the aim of the cafe is to promote people’s wellbeing.

“Anything that could make you well could happen inside The Well,” she said.

“We decided to call it The Well because there’s a well inside the premises, and it’s all about promoting wellness.”

She added: “We are fundraising through Aviva to be able to make The Well happen.”

Jess Douglas runs the All-Strong gym alongside her husband, Andy, and hopes The Well will also become a community hub.

She said: “We so hope to create a space where people who want to do community projects can get that into fruition and do that with us.

“It could be any community-led group, for example, parenting-led.”

The cafe also hopes to provide jobs for people who are new to Scotland and still learning English.

It is hoped jobs would provide them with a platform to further develop their language skills, while allowing them to also build up their confidence.

Linda El-Miligy, Senior Tutor at ESOL Perth, believes The Well could be an ideal place for some of her students.

She said: “From Esol Perth’s point of view, our core function is to teach people English and we do this in a practical way as well as delivering standard lessons.

“Working at The Well will give our students practical experience that will be excellent for a CV, but more importantly, they will be meeting people and using their English in a functional and professional way.

She added: “I would hope to have a manager and a team of workers who would cover the opening hours, which we hope to be 7am until 9pm.”

The opening date for the cafe will be announced in due course.