The Tea Rooms opened in February 2020 and was only able to trade for 5 weeks before Covid 19 lockdown and restrictions were enforced. Over the past 3 years, they have been able to sustain the business but now feel that to further develop and sustain the business, they need to expand their menu choice and increase opening hours. Reflecting on customers they have, what is available in the area and what customers are asking for they wanted to recruit a tearoom assistant and a breakfast cook.We are pleased to be supporting them with funding of £22,609.58. Supporting them at this stage will not only create 2 new jobs in the fund area but have a significant impact on the sustainability of the business and 2 permanent jobs already there.
In addition to offering employment, they also offer apprenticeships and as the only cafe/tearoom within Glynneath they are ideally situated to benefit from tourism footfall as they are located within the ‘heritage corridor’ between Neath and Pontneathvaughan – in excess of 40,000 people visit the local waterfalls on an annual basis. Members of the Chatty Cafe Scheme, they actively promote the scheme which aims to tackle loneliness and isolation across all ages by offering a designated table within the tearoom on a regular basis for a volunteer to chat to customers and they offer a range of events open to the community including art and craft workshops and the upstairs of the tea room serves as craft shop allowing local crafters to display and sell their goods.
“We cannot thank Pen Y Cymoedd enough for supporting our application to the Vision Fund to employ two additional members of staff which will enable us to not only extend our breakfast menu, increase our ‘in house baking’ and revise our opening hours. From May, residents Liz and Emily will be joining the team so we will be able to meet the demand for cooked breakfasts and be open on Mondays. We have faced challenging times over the past 3 years with various Covid restrictions enforced as soon as we opened and now cost of living crisis but this grant will ensure the long term sustainability of the business.”