Cups of tea and cheery company for the big day

A CAFE is planning a very warm welcome to those in need of some company this Christmas.

Wild Thyme, a popular cafe in Arbroath’s West Port, will be offering free tea and coffee to anyone spending this Christmas alone.

The idea, which has been named “Mistletoe and Thyme”, came about after manager Rachel Duncan and local artist Karen Elliot realised many patrons had family members living abroad, or were restricted by Covid “bubbles”.

Rachel said: “We were discussing Christmas and we realised some of our customers won’t be able to see family members this year.

“We know that a lot of our customers like to come in just to have a chat with us because they need to talk to somebody, so we thought it might be worth opening up on Christmas day so that they can still stop by for a cup of tea and a chat.”

She added: “We’ve already done some stuff this year to raise spirits.

“One thing we do is ‘Random Cups of Kindness’ where people can pay for someone else’s drink or sandwich in advance and that’s been really popular.

“Almost every table will buy something and it gets stuck on the board for someone else to claim.”

For this next plan, the pair will open up the eatery between 10am and 3pm on Christmas Day.

Teas and coffees will be served free of charge, and Rachel plans to cook up some treats which will be on offer to those who stop by.

She added: “I do about 50% of the baking, so the plan is to make some smaller, bite-sized treats for people.

“We’re also going to contact some of our local suppliers to see if they can offer up any donations for us.”

The duo will be joined by Rachel’s three-year-old son, Harvey, who is always happy to entertain customers.

The 33-year-old mum added: “I’m a single parent so I thought that I may as well bring him along, because he absolutely loves the cafe.

“Every time we go there he knows that he’s going to get attention and that he’ll be able to talk to people.

“So if I bring him with me he’ll get the chance to tell everyone about what presents he got and everything.”

Rachel added: “The whole idea was actually inspired by one of our customers.

“She’s an older lady who just lives with her husband who she has to care for full time.

“She’s goes out on walks a few times a week and she stops in here for a coffee and a chat.

“All her children live further away so we weren’t sure what she would be doing this year.

“We’re already all set up for it, we have all our covid stuff in place so we know that it’s not going to cause any additional risk and it gives people a chance to enjoy themselves.”