DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2023.1.9| PORTEOUS: FOOD, DRINK, AND COMMUNITY BUILDING_ INSIGHTOUT 1(2023) 55 Background Our two-year project, Transfor­mative Servicescapes and Con­sumer Vulnerability 2 , explored why our case study organisation in the UK was a transformative space for many women and non­binary people. Methods included interviews with sixty-four staff/ volunteers/serviceusers/networks; material from two arts-based workshops; analysis of the orga­nisation’s archives, website, and social media; and participant observation. Quotations used below are from women and non­binary people who held various (and often multiple) roles in the organisation, with boundaries between volunteer and service user often blurring. Introduction This short case study of a women’s 1 museum, archive, library, and community space shows how food and drink has been used as part of feminist organisatio­nal practice to foster a sense of welcome, inclusivity, and community in a museum environment. As an or­ganisation which sought to empower a diverse com­munity of women, and particularly those experien­cing vulnerability, the symbolism of food and drink was integral to helping museum staff and volunteers to form strong connections with its visitors and ser­vice users. Food and Drink as Welcome Some of our research participants who had little ex­perience visiting museums and cultural spaces spo­ke about experiencing trepidation on engaging with our case-study organisation based on a feeling that museums, libraries, and other cultural spaces were somehow“not for them”(for example, due to literacy issues or migrant status). The museum used the po­werful gesture of an outstretched cup of tea to crea­te a sense of welcome for everybody coming into the space: “Just being offered a cup of tea is such a simp­le thing, but if you go in somewhere and you’re immediately noticed and said hi to, and asked if 1 The museum space foregrounds women and nonbinary people’s history and experiences. It is inclusive of all genders but holds some events which are only for women(inclusive of trans women) and nonbinary people. 2 See Holly Porteous, Kathy Hamilton, Juliette Wilson, and Sarah Edwards, Transformative Spaces: Final Report from the Project ‘Transformative Servicescapes and Consumer Vulnerability’ (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, 2022), https://doi.org/10.17868/ strath.00081812(accessed 25 July 2023).