A popular restaurant has been thanked for its support of City Host volunteers throughout Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture.
Metropolis, based in the city centre, has been praised for acting as an unofficial hub for UK City of Culture City Hosts who have given up their time to volunteer during the year.
The restaurant has hosted 15 coffee mornings and two brunches since November last year, opening its doors two hours early and providing the hosts with exclusive use of the venue free of charge as well as supplying discounted food, drinks and cakes at the events.
It also supported Coventry City of Culture Trust’s winter warmer and spring break offers which saw the Trust provide the hosts with a £5 food voucher for each shift throughout winter and spring, with the restaurant creating a special menu to ensure they could purchase a substantial meal with the funds.
Metropolis, which is based in Earl Street and is run by Coventry-based national training provider and City of Culture sponsor PET-Xi, also donated gift vouchers to be used as prizes throughout the programme and has used its social media platforms to encourage others to volunteer.
The City Host volunteer programme is run by Coventry City Culture of Trust in partnership with EnV and Coventry University Students’ Union (CUSU).
More than 1,500 people have completed the programme to become fully-trained volunteers, giving up their time to contribute to the success of Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture by performing a variety of roles including providing a friendly welcome to the city, supporting events, providing information and helping people navigate their way around the city.
PET-Xi itself also ran a City of Culture training programme, funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), ahead of the year to help learners gain new employability and life skills and also equip them with the skills required to fill positions available during Coventry’s time as UK City of Culture – including the City Host roles.
David Boughey, Managing Director of EnV and Head of the City Host Programme, said: “We would like to thank Metropolis for its support of our City Hosts programme.
“The restaurant has become a social hub for our hosts, providing a friendly, informal space where they can meet, socialise and network.
“The whole team has been extremely accommodating, going out of their way to open early for our events, providing discounted food and drink and helping to spread the word about our programme.
“We have had some fantastic feedback from the hosts who have thoroughly appreciated everything Metropolis has done.”
Nathan Chadderton, general manager at Metropolis, said: “We are a very proud supporter of Coventry UK City of Culture and all of the volunteers who have given up their time to help ensure its success.
“We were more than happy to provide a designated place where the City Host volunteers could meet and socialise.
“We were also pleased to extend this further by providing food and drink at a discounted rate in recognition of their efforts, and we will be continuing to offer this support going forward as Coventry’s year as City of Culture comes to a close.”