Starting a community project: how Matt Smith set up Waffle
In short
Matt Smith and two friends set up Waffle, a non-profit community waffle house tackling loneliness, with almost no money. His lessons: lead with passion, keep asking why and ask for help when things go wrong. Waffle reaches lonely people through a cafe that feels ordinary, where trained staff and volunteers use natural openings to talk.
In this talk, recorded at an in-person Volunteero event, Matt Smith, CEO and co-founder of Waffle, shared how he and two friends set up a non-profit community waffle house to tackle loneliness. He covered the early days, a disastrous opening day and how Waffle reaches people who don’t want to be found.
Key points
Passion and a clear purpose carry a new project, so keep asking why as you grow.
Waffle started with almost no money, a borrowed shop and friends who learned new trades.
When things go wrong, asking for help brings your community closer.
Waffle reaches lonely people through a cafe that feels ordinary, not a service with a label.
Staff and volunteers are trained to make the most of natural chances to talk.
Watch the full talk below, including photos of the shop before the fit-out and the story of his mum, who first showed him what a good conversation can do. Under the video, we’ve summarised the key takeaways.
How Waffle started
The idea came from a kitchen table conversation: co-founder Sophie had always wanted to open a dessert place, and Matt had just dreamed up a community cafe. When their friend Tim was made redundant, the three left their jobs with very little money. A landlord lent them an empty high street shop until they started trading, and friends filled the skills gap: a chef became a carpenter and Sophie learned to plumb. Six months and some crowdfunding later, they were ready to open.
Lessons for starting a charity or community project
Lead with passion. Early on it’s how you inspire people, so don’t swap it for trying to impress.
Keep your why clear. As you grow, people stop asking why you exist, so keep asking it yourselves.
Take one step at a time. Waffle grew through a series of conversations, not a five-year plan.
Have fun. Humour keeps a team going when things are hard and stops you taking yourselves too seriously.
When things go wrong, ask for help
On opening day, Waffle sold out within two hours, poured pre-ground coffee into the grinder and broke the dishwasher and the air conditioning. After a Facebook appeal, local people came to help, and within five days Waffle was properly open. Matt’s lesson: our weaknesses connect us to people, so treat mistakes as a chance to ask for help rather than something to hide.
How to reach people who are lonely
Because of the stigma, many lonely people don’t want to be found. Matt calls Waffle’s answer community work by stealth: as both a business and a charity, it looks like an ordinary cafe, with a deliberate purpose underneath. People relax where they’re paying for something, which makes cafes good places to talk.
How Waffle involves volunteers
Waffle’s work moves outwards from its team:
In the cafe: staff, volunteers and work experience students are trained to use the natural openings for conversation.
Groups: from Dungeons and Dragons to knit and natter, mixing people who might not otherwise meet.
Schools: helping local primary school children see how powerful their conversations can be.
Community projects: practical help, from gardens to phones, each one a chance to talk.
Matt’s advice for having more of these conversations: make yourself available, notice people, and remember that how you make someone feel matters more than how long you talk.
Training volunteers with Volunteero
With Volunteero’s onboarding journeys, new volunteers work through built-in e-learning with quizzes, so everyone learns your approach from the start. Journeys can also award qualifications and groups. Book a demo to see how it works.
Related reading
About Matt
Matt Smith is CEO and co-founder of Waffle, a non-profit community waffle house putting conversations back into communities, subsidised by Belgian desserts. He and two friends set it up in 2018, and Waffle has since opened in a nearby town and, with the NHS, in a local community hospital.
Written by
Co-founder and CEO
Ashley Staines is the co-founder and CEO of Volunteero. After seven years in investment banking, he started it to make volunteering easier to organise.
