Our great café
Dishy’s café, at the heart of Blakers Park, is in real danger of closing. Sally Griffiths has tried to keep it running through all the seasons and all weathers but she says she is now losing so much custom that she will have to close it this Autumn and Winter.
“We feel we are a part of the community, not just a business touting for trade,” says Sally, “We really don’t want to shut, ever, but we can’t continue if people don’t drop by for a drink, food or ice creams.” Previous tenants of the café struggled but Dishy’s has flourished for eight years because Sally and her team made huge efforts to stay open all year round.
“We give glasses of water to thirsty children and have stuck countless plasters on kids who’ve fallen and cut or grazed themselves,” says Sally. “For a handful of local residents we’re a second home, where they can sit in the open air, have tea and coffee, and chat.”
One problem which Sally believes has undermined the viability of Dishy’s Café are the very frequent visits of an ice cream van, which she says has been taking vital trade away from her counter. While the ice cream van is fully licenced by the Council and entitled to ply its trade anywhere, it does not provide the same all-day, all year round services that Dishy’s does.
For this reason, the Friends of Blakers Park strongly encourages everyone to use Dishy’s café for drinks, food, delicious cakes, sweets and ice creams. Nobody wants it to close.
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- Nobody queued at the café when the ice cream van stopped in Cleveland Rd, at 4pm on 7th April
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- The queue for the ice cream van at 4pm on 7th April, with people taking safety risks by standing in the road
