the Wild Olive Tree Cafe in
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The Wild Olive Tree is a social enterprise café, started in 2015 as a ministry of St. George’s Tron, in whose sanctuary the café sits. The aim was to open up the church building, creating a place of meeting and rest, sanctuary and provision, but with a particular heart for those who are in need. We hope that you enjoy your visit and find this place to be a haven of peace in the busy city centre.
A Social Enterprise:
There are three components to this social enterprise. Firstly, any profits made by the café are donated to our two charity partners, Glasgow City Mission and Bethany Christian Trust to support their ongoing work with some of the city’s most vulnerable people. Secondly, we run work placements in partnership with these charities, offering employability training and work experience to people struggling to get into work. Finally, we offer free meals and hot drinks every day to people who are homeless, destitute or otherwise unable to pay, and we welcome any donations from our paying customers to enable us to continue serving the disadvantaged people in this city. In the three years that the Wild Olive Tree has been open so far, and thanks to the generosity of our customers, we have given away over 12,000 meals and over 13,500 hot drinks!
The Café:
We choose to keep our menu simple; we aim to do just a few things and do them really well. Our soups, salads, scones and cakes are all made in-house by our excellent cook, offering a slightly different variety each day. We serve soup from ~ 12noon each day until we close or run out, and our scones, cakes and coffees are all available from when we open each morning.
Please note that lunchtime is our busiest period, from around 12-2pm, and during that time you may have to queue for a table. If you sit in a smaller group at one of our larger tables during these periods, you may be asked to share your table with another person/small group. During exceptionally busy periods we may have to ask for the table back after 90 minutes if you do not wish to order anything else. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding!
St. George’s Tron Church:
We often hear people walk into this building and comment that it ‘used to be a church’…! St. George’s Tron is STILL very much a church and an active and lively place of worship, ministry and mission, with around 130 people gathering at the various services each week. The minister is Rev Alastair Duncan and he leads services three times each week as follows:
Glasgow Street Pastors and Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland are also based within St. George’s Tron.
We love local!
We are proud to support local and ethical businesses as suppliers for the Wild Olive Tree, such as Dear Green Coffee: a local Glasgow roastery, whose delicious Brazil single origin beans creates our tasty espresso. We source our incredible artisan bread from Freedom Bakery, a social enterprise based in Glasgow who give training opportunities to inmates from three Glasgow prisons. You can choose from Freedom Bakery’s white bloomer, brown struan or slow fermented sourdough to enjoy with any of our soups! We also buy in fair-trade or direct-trade goods wherever possible, and all of our takeaway disposables are Vegware, fully compostable and biodegradable, even the cutlery and straws!
Our Wild Olive Family
The Wild Olive Tree team is made up of paid staff, volunteers and people on work placements. We are very grateful for our volunteers who give up their time to serve this place and our lovely customers. If you are interested in volunteering, please email the address below. We employ a small number of paid staff, and we’re proud to be an official Real Living Wage employer.
Wild Olive Tree: behind the name
In the story of Noah in the Old Testament, the olive branch features as a symbol of peace and of a fresh beginning. But the reference to a wild olive tree comes from two other places in the Bible:
In Romans 11:17, it says: “Some of the branches of the cultivated olive tree have been broken off, and a branch of a wild olive tree has been joined to it. You Gentiles are like that wild olive tree, and now you share the strong spiritual life of the Jews.”
Christians are ‘grafted’ into the family of God’s people through their faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, the wild olive tree is a symbol of God’s invitation to be ‘grafted’ in to Him, connected to Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
In Nehemiah 8, wild olive trees played a part in the celebrations which took place as God’s people rediscovered their connection and relationship to God following a long period of exile in a foreign country, where their relationship with the living God had fallen away.
So, the wild olive tree represents connection and re-connection to God. It is our hope and prayer that that may be your experience in this place.
Contact:
If you would like to get in touch, please use the relevant contact details below relating to your enquiry:
Café: thewildolivetree.sgt@gmail.com
Minister: minister@sgt.church
SGT Information: stgeorgestroncofs@gmail.com
Events and room bookings in SGT: events@sgt.church
Useful Links:
Glasgow City Mission: www.glasgowcitymission.com
Bethany Christian Trust: www.bethanychristiantrust.com
Glasgow Street Pastors: www.gsp.scot
Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland: www.wpcscotland.co.uk
A Social Enterprise:
There are three components to this social enterprise. Firstly, any profits made by the café are donated to our two charity partners, Glasgow City Mission and Bethany Christian Trust to support their ongoing work with some of the city’s most vulnerable people. Secondly, we run work placements in partnership with these charities, offering employability training and work experience to people struggling to get into work. Finally, we offer free meals and hot drinks every day to people who are homeless, destitute or otherwise unable to pay, and we welcome any donations from our paying customers to enable us to continue serving the disadvantaged people in this city. In the three years that the Wild Olive Tree has been open so far, and thanks to the generosity of our customers, we have given away over 12,000 meals and over 13,500 hot drinks!
The Café:
We choose to keep our menu simple; we aim to do just a few things and do them really well. Our soups, salads, scones and cakes are all made in-house by our excellent cook, offering a slightly different variety each day. We serve soup from ~ 12noon each day until we close or run out, and our scones, cakes and coffees are all available from when we open each morning.
Please note that lunchtime is our busiest period, from around 12-2pm, and during that time you may have to queue for a table. If you sit in a smaller group at one of our larger tables during these periods, you may be asked to share your table with another person/small group. During exceptionally busy periods we may have to ask for the table back after 90 minutes if you do not wish to order anything else. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding!
St. George’s Tron Church:
We often hear people walk into this building and comment that it ‘used to be a church’…! St. George’s Tron is STILL very much a church and an active and lively place of worship, ministry and mission, with around 130 people gathering at the various services each week. The minister is Rev Alastair Duncan and he leads services three times each week as follows:
- Sunday at 12.30pm: Café Church service
- Sunday at 5.00pm: SGT@FIVE Evening Service
- Wednesday 1.15pm: Midweek service
Glasgow Street Pastors and Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland are also based within St. George’s Tron.
We love local!
We are proud to support local and ethical businesses as suppliers for the Wild Olive Tree, such as Dear Green Coffee: a local Glasgow roastery, whose delicious Brazil single origin beans creates our tasty espresso. We source our incredible artisan bread from Freedom Bakery, a social enterprise based in Glasgow who give training opportunities to inmates from three Glasgow prisons. You can choose from Freedom Bakery’s white bloomer, brown struan or slow fermented sourdough to enjoy with any of our soups! We also buy in fair-trade or direct-trade goods wherever possible, and all of our takeaway disposables are Vegware, fully compostable and biodegradable, even the cutlery and straws!
Our Wild Olive Family
The Wild Olive Tree team is made up of paid staff, volunteers and people on work placements. We are very grateful for our volunteers who give up their time to serve this place and our lovely customers. If you are interested in volunteering, please email the address below. We employ a small number of paid staff, and we’re proud to be an official Real Living Wage employer.
Wild Olive Tree: behind the name
In the story of Noah in the Old Testament, the olive branch features as a symbol of peace and of a fresh beginning. But the reference to a wild olive tree comes from two other places in the Bible:
In Romans 11:17, it says: “Some of the branches of the cultivated olive tree have been broken off, and a branch of a wild olive tree has been joined to it. You Gentiles are like that wild olive tree, and now you share the strong spiritual life of the Jews.”
Christians are ‘grafted’ into the family of God’s people through their faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, the wild olive tree is a symbol of God’s invitation to be ‘grafted’ in to Him, connected to Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
In Nehemiah 8, wild olive trees played a part in the celebrations which took place as God’s people rediscovered their connection and relationship to God following a long period of exile in a foreign country, where their relationship with the living God had fallen away.
So, the wild olive tree represents connection and re-connection to God. It is our hope and prayer that that may be your experience in this place.
Contact:
If you would like to get in touch, please use the relevant contact details below relating to your enquiry:
Café: thewildolivetree.sgt@gmail.com
Minister: minister@sgt.church
SGT Information: stgeorgestroncofs@gmail.com
Events and room bookings in SGT: events@sgt.church
Useful Links:
Glasgow City Mission: www.glasgowcitymission.com
Bethany Christian Trust: www.bethanychristiantrust.com
Glasgow Street Pastors: www.gsp.scot
Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland: www.wpcscotland.co.uk
