The council says 174 places have pledged to welcome breastfeeding families. The only list it publishes names 39 and dates from January 2023. Here they are.

A campaign asking South Cambridgeshire businesses to welcome families who breastfeed has reached 174 venues in four years, the district council said this week. Finding those venues is harder than it sounds.

South Cambridgeshire District Council announced the milestone on 24 August. Since 2022, it says, 174 businesses, community venues and public organisations have signed the #FreeToFeed pledge, which commits them to a breastfeeding welcome policy and to briefing staff on supporting families.

The council’s own campaign page links to one list of participating venues. That list is a PDF headed January 2023, and it names 39.

The 39 venues the council publishes

Grouped by village, from the council’s #FreeToFeedCP locations document:

Village Venues on the published list
Bar Hill Bar Hill Library
Cambourne Sackville House and Cambourne Library, Sackville Way
Comberton Comberton Library, Comberton Village College
Cottenham Cottenham Community Centre, Cottenham Village Hall, Cottenham Library
Duxford Duxford Community Centre
Fulbourn Amanda’s Cambridge Buffet Company, 10 High Street
Gamlingay Gamlingay Eco Hub, Stocks Lane
Grantchester Blue Ball Inn, 57 Broadway
Great Shelford Great Shelford Library, Woollards Lane
Histon St Andrew’s Cafe and Histon Library, School Hill; Stir, School Hill; The Boot, 1 High Street
Impington The Railway Vue, 163 Station Road
Linton Linton Kitchen, 30 High Street; Linton Library
Melbourn Bury Lane Farm Cafe and Fun Barn; Melbourn Community Hub; Melbourn Community Health Centre; Hot Numbers Coffee, Dunsbridge Turnpike
Milton Milton Community Centre, Coles Road
Oakington White Horse, 28 Longstanton Road
Over Over Community and Conference Centre, 16 The Doles
Papworth Everard The Courtyard, Pendrill Court; Papworth Library
Sawston The White Lion, 96 High Street; Sawston Medical Practice; Sawston Library
Waterbeach The White Horse, 12 Green Side
Whittlesford Provenance Brix and Mortar, Hill Farm Road; The Fig & Almond Cafe, 36 Duxford Road
Willingham Willingham Auctions Cafe, 25 High Street; Willingham Library

Two entries on the same list sit outside the district: Marleigh Community Centre and the Peacock Centre at Brookfields Hospital are both in Cambridge. Ten of the 39 are libraries, which is worth knowing on a wet afternoon.

The list has not been updated in three and a half years

The council’s campaign page carries a “page last reviewed” date of 1 July 2026. The document it links to has not moved since January 2023, and 135 of the 174 venues the council counted this week do not appear on it.

Three years shows. Checking each named cafe and pub against the Food Standards Agency’s register of food businesses, three no longer appear on it anywhere in England:

  • the Blue Ball Inn at Grantchester
  • the Looking Glass Cafe at Willingham, listed at Highgate Farm
  • the Fig & Almond Cafe at Whittlesford

Absence from the food hygiene register is not proof that a business has closed, but it does mean the FSA no longer holds a registration for it. The rest of the listed cafes and pubs are still on the register, most of them at five stars. Provenance Brix and Mortar at Whittlesford was rated 5 as recently as 20 August 2026.

What the pledge actually commits a venue to

Every venue that signs agrees to adopt a breastfeeding welcome policy and to make sure staff understand how to support families positively. The campaign is run by the district council with NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s infant feeding team.

Cllr Dr Lisa Redrup, lead cabinet member for healthy communities, said: “Parents should never feel uncomfortable feeding their baby while out enjoying local shops, cafés, community facilities or visitor attractions. By signing the pledge, venues are sending a clear message that families are welcome and supported.”

Justine Fieth, a breastfeeding counsellor with Cambridge Breastfeeding Alliance, made the legal point in the same announcement: “Breastfeeding in public places is protected by law throughout the UK, yet many mothers and parents still feel unsure about feeding their baby when they are out and about.”

That protection is the Equality Act 2010, and it works through two sections. Section 17 makes it unlawful for a service provider to treat a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding, in the 26 weeks after she gives birth. Section 13 covers it after that: less favourable treatment of a woman “includes less favourable treatment of her because she is breast-feeding”. The pledge does not create the right. It signals that a venue knows about it.

What it means for you

If you are looking for somewhere in the villages, the published list is a starting point rather than an answer. Ten of the 39 are county libraries, so check their opening hours with Cambridgeshire County Council before you set off. For the cafes and pubs, ring ahead: the list is three and a half years old and three of the venues on it are no longer registered as food businesses.

If you run a business and want to sign up, the council asks venues to get in touch through its FreetoFeed page. Asking it to publish a current list at the same time would help the families the campaign is for.

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