Grassmarket Community Project

We went for brunch and coffee Food really good. (I had avocado on toast, my friend had bacon, black pudding and fried egg) As well as having food and drinks you can “pay forward”. Buy a meal for someone in need, £5. I think the people who work there are non typical also when it comes to coffee shop workers

Couldn't find the place for a while. It wasn't very well signposted. I got a taxi who dropped me off at Cowgate and told me it was up a lane. I went up the lane and there was lots of people with 'Just The Tonic' tops on who told me I'd gone the wrong way. Google maps and where the venue was supposed to be didn't match up. The entrance to the venue was off a cobbled street and not clearly a venue! It was a tiny venue. I could hear the staff talking and saying 'a wheelchair user' is coming. My ticket said 'wheelchair user' on it even though I am not a wheelchair user. When I said this to a member of staff he brushed me off and told me 'yeah, yeah, queueing starts in 5 minutes'. I asked a different member of staff if there was somewhere I could put my scooter and she said 'I don't know'. They then started queueing people and they were surprised when they saw that it said 'wheelchair user' on my ticket even though I had told them this 5 minutes before. It was really cramped, there were maybe 45 people cramped into this tiny room. It felt really claustrophobic. I kept changing seats because I felt claustrophobic, and eventually they put me at the back. The show was sorta hit or miss. I liked the Buffy 'stats' but I didn't quite understand the jokes and when the guy pulled out a trombone I left because it was too loud for me.

The Grassmarket Community Project as a name conjures up lots of images and the reality unravels to reveal a hidden gem tucked away in the Grassmarket. Just of the beaten track it's an oasis of calm with fringe shows, a cafe and a quiet moment or two. All against the back drop of being accessible and friendly.