Bake, Battle and Roll - The Dice Don't Judge

Seven years ago, James and Rachel opened a board games café in Doncaster. They wanted somewhere people would feel at home, no exceptions. Shelves of games floor to ceiling, the smell of freshly baked cakes, and tables full of regulars, with room for whoever walks in next. What they didn’t fully anticipate was how much some people needed that. 

Both are neurodivergent, or “neuro-spicy” as they like to say. That shaped everything about how they built the place. The welcome is genuine, the atmosphere is easy and nobody is expected to be anything other than who they are. LGBTQ+ customers, people with learning difficulties, those on the autism spectrum, anyone who has ever felt slightly out of step elsewhere tends to find, pretty quickly, that they don’t feel that way here. 

On any given afternoon, a bank manager is fighting dragons with a mathematician, a teacher is losing badly to an entrepreneur, and someone who rarely leaves the house is sitting comfortably among some familiar faces and some new ones. What anyone does for a living doesn’t come into it. When the dice are rolling, everyone is equal. 

Over the years, the pair have quietly built a community hub. There are regular Dungeons and Dragons nights, craft sessions for neurodivergent people, and groups for those with learning difficulties who come to sit, play, and connect. A positive action group meets there too. Last year, Bake, Battle and Roll became a Community Interest Company, a formal step that reflected what it had already been in practice. 

Adults with learning difficulties come in regularly for sessions built around games and company. There are craft groups, themed evenings, and open tables where turning up is the only requirement. Neurodivergent people who struggle in most social settings find the pace here suits them. No loud music, no pressure to perform, no judgment if you need to step outside for a minute. For some it’s a weekly routine. For others it’s the one place in the city where they know they’ll be welcomed without question. James and Rachel don’t advertise it that way. They just keep the door open. 

That same generosity reaches beyond the café. Over the years, James and Rachel have run fundraising events for the charity upstairs, which supports women who have experienced abuse, raising thousands of pounds along the way. 

During Covid, when the shop was closed and people had nowhere to go, James and Rachel made a point of checking in on regulars. They didn’t let people disappear. When the doors reopened, they heard back about what that had meant. For some, it had been a lifeline. 

If you’re looking for somewhere to go with no judgment, no pressure and a genuine welcome, find them at https://www.bakebattleroll.co.uk

Or reach out to them at: Bakebattlerollcic@gmail.com