Help the Cafe to Survive

Hi thanks for taking the time to view my fundraiser. I have started this fundraiser in the hope it will help save my wife’s business from being closed down, due to substantial financial loss. My wife started a career in nursing, then obtained a 1st class honours degree in Health, followed by 2 post graduate teaching qualifications and eventually taught health and social care and psychology. Her fifteen year career came to an abrupt end due to a none fault traffic accident from which she sustained injuries which she still periodically suffers from. Therefore, she decided to apply for a contract to run the cafe, along with her family.
The cafe is situated in the Civil Justice Centre in Manchester city centre and caters for everyone who either works in, or attends a court hearing within the building. Having won the contract to run the cafe five years ago, the kitchen had not been used for approximately eight months before this. She spent most of her savings on stocking the cafe and buying equipment, as well as deep cleaning the kitchen and storage areas. The cafe obtained a five star rating on its first inspection from the Environmental Health Agency and has maintained this rating on further inspections. Over time, the cafe became a place where professionals would meet during break times or sit discussing a case with their clients. On a number of occasions, my wife has given free food and drink to people attending court who could not afford a meal.
Prior to covid, at one point, the cafe employed five staff, including two qualified chefs and on request also provided take away meals and refreshments for staff and jurors in Manchester Crown Court, when they had no refreshment services available on site. 
Visiting solicitors and barristers would regularly comment on the cafe as being the best in any court building they had visited. Also a number of other court buildings’ management enquired to ask if my wife could offer advice on how to operate the cafe facilities in their buildings. 
Due to the business being run on a contract, all the grants from the Government and Manchester City Council have been unavailable. As the cafe was closed due to covid rules for so long, most staff have had to eventually leave. The court has not charged my wife any monies, however she had to use her the last of her savings and then take out a sizable loan to tide the business over, continuing to pay fixed overheads such as insurance etc and contributing towards staff furlough  (as required by the government) and also to restock in order to reopen. The cafe reopened as soon as it was permissible, with herself and one chef providing a service. She has been told the cafe is one of a very few in a court building open in England (that is not charity based). However, since reopening in October, the cafe has been running at a daily loss and all available finances have now been used. She has had to take part time employment in a shop, working four evenings a week plus a Saturday evening, as well as work in the cafe during the day.  Loan repayments are due to start in a month and business at the moment is still very unpredictable, but is expected to eventually increase once the court returns to normality.

Any donation, no matter how small, is highly appreciated and will help get the cafe through the next few difficult months ahead, keeping the cafe open while it is still quiet, by helping towards repaying the loan payments and various fixed overheads, such as insurance etc, staff wages and also hopefully in the future, re-employing more staff. It would also be very much appreciated if you would share this on social media and encourage everyone to use the cafe.

All donations are paid into the COMPANY bank account.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Steve Garside