It's been a tumultuous time here at River & Bean since the beginning of the year... We're overwhelmingly grateful for the support of friends, family, and our few members. You mean the world to us, and our partners
What happened, how and why is something we'll go into in another blog post, which will be linked here when it's published. For the purposes of this post it's not important, so we won't get bogged down here.
What is important is that after yet more last-minute challenges and changes, we're finally ready to launch our membership and services publicly, as well as start providing phenomenal beverages to the good locals of Ayr (and indeed beyond, but that's also another post.)
"The Humble Opening"
A Fortnight of Public Open and Bookable sessions, with an exciting twist!
Yes, you read that right - The Humble Opening is upon us! Sadly we don't feel all that grand at the moment, what with all the palaver, delay, and changing to some of our plans, so we're saving the Grand Opening for around September time.
We're holding an Open Fortnight, starting on Tuesday 28th of April. The doors to River & Bean will open to the public for a variety of sessions over two weeks, and all are welcome.
Join us from 7am - 10am Tuesday 28th, Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th April, or if you prefer an evening setting, Drivers' Dry Room will also be running from 6pm to Midnight on Friday 1st May and Saturday 2nd May.
Come and get to know us, enjoy our riverside café, and find out why your membership and support means so much to us. Further sessions and events will be announced in due course, and a calendar will added to a menu somewhere... Hopefully!
If for whatever reason you can't visit us, you can find out more by reaching out to hello@riverandbean.co.uk. Please note that replies may take up to 72 hours currently; please use the word "Urgent" in the subject line if your query is time-sensitive!
Coworking & Quiet Time
We're sadly not yet able to progress with our daytime bookable co-working and quiet time slots, meaning that daytime access and private hire currently remains restricted.
There's no change of direction - just a delay to the plan... the need is still there. And, fear not, we have a bold plan to progress.
We can still offer daytime access and hire on a case-by-case basis, which will be assessed against need and availability. If you, your group, or your organisation could benefit from having access, or you wish to hire the venue for daytime use, get in touch.
Session Types
To ensure our sessions and events always meet your expectations, we'll begin clearly labelling them, as we can't always provide a completely quiet, comfortable and secure setting for each session or event.
Following our open fortnight, sessions will be categorised as Open, Booked, Invite Only or Private, as well as carrying additional labels/tags.
Sessions carrying the (Limited) label will guarantee you don't share a table with another booking, whilst the (Quiet) label indicates the session should follow library rules - eg phones on vibrate or DND, no taking calls inside.
Occasionally other tags/labels may be used, for example (ND) and (MH). These tags don't guarantee a quiet or limited session, but do require all attendees be especially mindful and understanding of neurodiversity (ND) and mental health (MH).
Memberships & Subscriptions
River & Bean is only opening to the public for an initial period in order to drum up support - it gives potential members and customers a chance to see the venue and try our range of beverages, as well as providing the opportunity to learn more about our aims, intents and operating model.
Following this open period, River & Bean sessions will be members-only, with membership being free of charge. Members can sign up by making a purchase, attending a session or event, or by invitation from a subscribed member. You can also contact us directly to sign up.
Subscriptions are also being introduced, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, they allow the venue to operate for the benefit of the community fluidly and predictably, whilst maintaining our people-first approach. Subscriptions will never be required to be a member, but we may run a number of sessions that are subscriber or invite-only. Subscriptions will always carry an equivalent value in inclusive products as stated, and are styled both to return true value to the subscriber, as well as to allow benefactors to invest in us by purchasing a subscription level they may not often use.
In closing...
Finally, if you'd like to book our awesome riverside café venue for your next social event, support group, meeting, conference, team-building day, training session, table-top game, study group, or exhibition, or for your next round of interviews, auditions, in-person consultations, recording sessions or practises, use Book Now to see our availability, or get in touch for a bespoke arrangement.
See you by the riverside.
- Team Bean