diff --git a/controller/utils.go b/controller/utils.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5243b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/controller/utils.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package controller
+
+import (
+	"github.com/flosch/pongo2/v4"
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+)
+
+func getTemplateData(c *gin.Context) pongo2.Context {
+	// data is initialized in the templateDataMiddleware
+	return c.MustGet("template_data").(pongo2.Context)
+}