Plushy camel-toned sofas, funky floral wallpaper and perfectly mismatched furniture highlight Pato Lounge’s unique philosophy: #LoveLoungin’ with the local community. And over the recent half term, the community has been more important to Pato than ever.
Following the UK government’s decision not to provide free school meals over the half term, Pato Lounge decided to implement their own scheme; any patron can donate anything from a gooey chocolate brownie to crispy, classic fish fingers and chips from their extensive menu to just credit, which can be collected by any families in need.
Zoe Embury, the social media manager of Pato Lounge, was astonished at the enthusiastic response – their social media posts had reached 60,000 people alone. Despite this warm social media welcome, few families arrived to claim the meals in spite of zealous donations. Some even travelled from Norfolk to chip in, and those more risk-adverse participated through online donations. Pato strived to make the process of donating and claiming as accessible as possible through emails, calls or old-fashioned pop-ins. Happily, more people have claimed the free kids' meals and the massive donation rate has prompted the lounge to extend the scheme until Wednesday, before the second lockdown.
Pato Lounge have endeavored to extend the reach of their scheme as far as possible. They contacted other local businesses to increase awareness, including Orpington Community Fridge, who try to reduce food waste from cafes and supermarkets by redistributing to those in need. Orpington Community Fridge contacted the 120 families in their database that they support to tell them about the scheme.
The giving of the Orpington community has been too generous: Pato must consider donating the additional food to the food bank. Pato Lounge have aspired to support their local community in the “Lounger’s way”, as Zoe calls it, and they will strive to do so again. Unless hopefully rendered unnecessary, Pato will be back in the winter holidays to offer the scheme again.
