A family receiving care and support from East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) were proud and excited after opening its new shop and café in Wroxham. Tasty treats including drinks, cakes, bakes and paninis are now being served at Café 98, which is a first for EACH and part of the new store in Station Road.
The first customers were welcomed from 10am today, and eight-year-old Emma Gulliver had the honour of cutting the ribbon, alongside parents Chris and Claire and brothers Isaac, 13, and Louis, ten. Emma has congenital central hypoventilation syndrome – a rare neurological condition that affects her breathing. She spends a day a month at The Nook – EACH’s hospice in Framingham Earl. As well as officially opening the shop, she also helped serve the first customers.
“We were very grateful and honoured to be given this opportunity,” said Claire. “Emma was particularly excited and immediately asked whether she could help on the till! The new shop and café is beautiful, and I hope it generates lots of funds, which, in turn, will directly help families like ours and children like Emma.
“She always has a great time at The Nook, enjoying lots of arts and crafts, and recently provided some artwork for a beautiful EACH Christmas card. She loves spending time with the nurses and other children and feels more at home every time she goes there. It gives her a sense of independence, and it’s great from our point of view, because it’s somewhere we know she’s completely safe and looked after.”
Café 98 refers to the year Quidenham Children’s Hospice merged with Milton Children’s Hospice, near Cambridge, to become East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices. The new shop and café, previously a branch of Barclays, will become EACH’s 52nd retail unit across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk.
“Having a coffee shop alongside our traditional charity offering is something we’ve been discussing for a couple of years, so for this landmark day to finally arrive is incredibly exciting,” said EACH’s Director of Retail, Ian Nicolson. “It’s a milestone moment, a new opportunity for revenue and something we hope our customers thoroughly enjoy. We strive to be the most loved community shop and pride ourselves on providing a great shopping experience.
“Now, after picking up some bargains, customers can sit back and enjoy a nice hot drink and slice of cake. What could be better than that?”
EACH relies on voluntary donations for the majority of its income. This year alone, it needs to raise £7.5 million from donations and fundraising activities and £8.7 million in retail income. Only 15% of its income comes from the government, county councils and the NHS.
To find out more about volunteering in Wroxham, pop in for a chat, email shop manager Naomi Munro via Naomi.Munro@each.org.uk or call 01603 369852.
