The story of how Matthew Smith started Waffle

Starting a charity isn't easy but if you have a vision... you should go for it! This is exactly what Matt did.

Hear how Waffle are putting conversations back into communities and subsidized by Belgian desserts.

Over three years of operating we have gone from a team of 5 staff and 5 volunteers to 34 staff and 42 volunteersCommunity is in Matt’s veins. When he was 4, he attended the weekly "Cowley Club" (named after our road) hosted by his Mum in their tiny house for young girls in our neighbourhood that needed a role model.

Later, after studying languages and literature at university and then living abroad, Matt developed a fascination for how language influences culture and community. This passion found an initial corporate home in marketing but he was itching for an opportunity to build a Cowley Club of my own.

In 2018, Matt and two friends left our jobs to set up 'Waffle' - a non-profit Community Waffle House driven by a passion for putting conversations back into communities and subsidized by Belgian desserts.They have since expanded into a nearby town and working with the NHS have set up a Waffle in a local community hospital.

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