The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Cafe hails community for pandemic support
The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of a number of independent businesses across the UK – with hospitality being one of the hardest hit industries.
However, a Fife coffee house has come out the other end of lockdown fighting and has hailed community support and a team of dedicated volunteers as the reason it survived.
Manna Café in Newport is one of several coffee shops in the village which remains to tell the tale of how it ploughed on and adapted.
And it continues to serve the area by offering a place where people can come to talk and socialise while enjoying a tea or coffee and home-baking.
Opened in March 2006, Manna is owned by the Church of Scotland and all profits from the business go towards helping fund a full-time Christian youth worker, as well as providing an outlet to sell Fairtrade goods.
Since November 2007 it has had a paid manager, Diane Miller, at the forefront, who told The Courier about how Manna fought off Covid.
“We are very fortunate that the Church of Scotland own the building, it is a big contributor in how we survived the pandemic,” Diane said.
“A hard-working team of dedicated volunteers give up their time to work in the cafe and they bake excellent quality goods, as well as stocking the gifts, making homemade soup, taking orders, waiting and washing dishes.
“Many of our volunteers are actually originally customers who just love coming here.
“We are well-supported by the community and for many businesses they may measure success as making profits and the bank balance, but for us, it’s not about making money, we rely on the community.
“Our regulars list several reasons for continually coming back to the shop, which include good food, the company, to avoid being home alone, a welcoming environment, you always get a laugh, to get local recommendations and they have known many of the staff for so long.”
Coming out of lockdown, Manna struggled to rebuild its volunteer base.
“Many of our helpers were more vulnerable as several of them were a lot older. It was difficult but when we were able to reopen, we had to tell a lot of them to not come back just now,” Diane continued.
News of a scheme called No One Left Behind (NOLB) came to light and provided an answer to the store’s plight.
The Scottish Government employment programme was aimed at helping those members of society who may face challenging barriers to finding and staying in employment.
Manna applied for the initiative and it has now had two successful placements and has just taken on a third, with two recruits starting last April, fulfilling all requirements of the scheme by working 16 to 36 hours a week for a period of six months.
Salaries of the recruits were paid by Fife Council, with the project being overseen by Stuart Don.
Post-covid, the shop is now run by primarily younger volunteers, with the community using the café as a warm space as the cost of living crisis begins to bite.
Diane said: “People feel relaxed when they come into Manna.
“They can come in for a blether at any point as we are open six days a week.
“It’s wonderful to see the people who work here develop and gain confidence as part of our team.”
“It’s wonderful to see the people who work here develop