Keep caffé No 3 open
Donation protected
Many in the local community will have heard of Caffé No 3. Based in Spennymoor, County Durham, it is a family run business owned by me Tracy Parnaby. 
I first opened the cafe in 2014 after ending a long career in local government. After turning vegan in 2017 I gradually transitioned Caffe No3 to a meat-free cafe with approximately 90% of our food being vegan and a small proportion vegetarian.
"I had to align my business values with my personal values, so we started the journey to make the Caffe one day 100% vegan" Reviews will show how great this independent cafe is, reviews which you can find on many social media platforms.
As we grew it became increasingly obvious that we had just outgrown the space. It was very small and we couldn't develop further. We had the vision of zero waste shop which would also have independent local suppliers of vegan, environmentally friendly and ethical sourced items on offer. A new healthy fully vegan deli, vegan homemade take out meals. Also looking to open late for fully vegan fayre, not to leave out vegan Sunday dinners!
We just couldn't achieve all of this in the small space we had, so we found a big property in February 2020. The building needs significant work, which luckily the new owner was more than happy to do. However, there is still so much to do which will include a new kitchen, deli counter, refrigeration, extra tables chairs, zero waste area to name a few! Then lockdown hit and we were hit with the bombshell that we’d have to close our old premises. This was a huge blow with no income coming in while we were having to balance bills, staff wages and costs of our new venture. This was all very testing and stressful, not to mention all of the items due to restrictions we had to get our heads around to make our new Caffe and Shop safe for customers to visit.
This crisis has, like for many taken its toll and we desperately want to continue, to save jobs and continue on our path of being fully vegan and to making a difference in our local community where like minded individuals can come and enjoy what we have to offer.
Unfortunately due to having no income (we will have been closed 7 months by the time we relocate) and much of any monies being diminished over lockdown we had to come to a decision, do we stay and fight?
It has been a very hard decision, after all it could mean me risking my home.
We crunched the numbers and we're pretty sure we would close, but on the 11th hour we did secure some money. However, it is just not enough as it still leaves a shortfall.
"I want to fight and I don't want to watch over 6-years of trying to make a difference just end, so I'm asking for help to keep Caffe No 3 open”.
"Your support will help to purchase all the equipment needed, for staff to return to their jobs and look at future employment, to support independent local businesses.
It will support us in keeping the business ticking over through the rough months ahead. It will help us to achieve our goal of an evening vegan menu and if course the Sunday dinners.
Every penny raised will be greatly appreciated.
Our ethos is recycle-reuse-reduce, we are dog-friendly and any funds left over will be donated to a local dog sanctuary, we are hoping that people who both know us or don't know us see the same vision to make a difference, to our community, to the animals and to the environment.
We will update with pictures what we are doing, how the renovations are coming on, showing where the funds are going.
All we want is to remain open, supporting our local community, the high street and to be 100% vegan with 100% care and 100% compassion giving a 100% effort.
Thank you for reading.
Tracy
I first opened the cafe in 2014 after ending a long career in local government. After turning vegan in 2017 I gradually transitioned Caffe No3 to a meat-free cafe with approximately 90% of our food being vegan and a small proportion vegetarian.
"I had to align my business values with my personal values, so we started the journey to make the Caffe one day 100% vegan" Reviews will show how great this independent cafe is, reviews which you can find on many social media platforms.
As we grew it became increasingly obvious that we had just outgrown the space. It was very small and we couldn't develop further. We had the vision of zero waste shop which would also have independent local suppliers of vegan, environmentally friendly and ethical sourced items on offer. A new healthy fully vegan deli, vegan homemade take out meals. Also looking to open late for fully vegan fayre, not to leave out vegan Sunday dinners!
We just couldn't achieve all of this in the small space we had, so we found a big property in February 2020. The building needs significant work, which luckily the new owner was more than happy to do. However, there is still so much to do which will include a new kitchen, deli counter, refrigeration, extra tables chairs, zero waste area to name a few! Then lockdown hit and we were hit with the bombshell that we’d have to close our old premises. This was a huge blow with no income coming in while we were having to balance bills, staff wages and costs of our new venture. This was all very testing and stressful, not to mention all of the items due to restrictions we had to get our heads around to make our new Caffe and Shop safe for customers to visit.
This crisis has, like for many taken its toll and we desperately want to continue, to save jobs and continue on our path of being fully vegan and to making a difference in our local community where like minded individuals can come and enjoy what we have to offer.
Unfortunately due to having no income (we will have been closed 7 months by the time we relocate) and much of any monies being diminished over lockdown we had to come to a decision, do we stay and fight?
It has been a very hard decision, after all it could mean me risking my home.
We crunched the numbers and we're pretty sure we would close, but on the 11th hour we did secure some money. However, it is just not enough as it still leaves a shortfall.
"I want to fight and I don't want to watch over 6-years of trying to make a difference just end, so I'm asking for help to keep Caffe No 3 open”.
"Your support will help to purchase all the equipment needed, for staff to return to their jobs and look at future employment, to support independent local businesses.
It will support us in keeping the business ticking over through the rough months ahead. It will help us to achieve our goal of an evening vegan menu and if course the Sunday dinners.
Every penny raised will be greatly appreciated.
Our ethos is recycle-reuse-reduce, we are dog-friendly and any funds left over will be donated to a local dog sanctuary, we are hoping that people who both know us or don't know us see the same vision to make a difference, to our community, to the animals and to the environment.
We will update with pictures what we are doing, how the renovations are coming on, showing where the funds are going.
All we want is to remain open, supporting our local community, the high street and to be 100% vegan with 100% care and 100% compassion giving a 100% effort.
Thank you for reading.
Tracy
Organiser
Tracy Mack Parnaby
Organiser
