'Heart of Morecambe’ Rita’s Cafe appeals for help to survive after 38 years
A longstanding cafe, which has been open for 38 years, is appealing for support to stay ‘alive’.
Rita’s Cafe has been serving customers in Morecambe since the late 1980s, offering hearty fry-ups and other British classics and becoming a cherished part of the local community.
Now, after facing pressures such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the daughters of current owners Lynn and Graham Turner have launched a fundraiser to “keep the business going”.
In a statement issued on the GoFundMe page, they said: “We are trying to keep our small business alive...
“Rita's Cafe has been open for 38 years by Stephen, Rita, Lynn and Graham and all the staff are very grateful for all our customers and their loyalty over the years.
“They have poured their hearts into the cafe most will say it's the heart of Morecambe. However we're reaching out today with honesty as things happen and small businesses have their struggles.
“During Covid, a lot of small businesses including us were left in a rough patch because of rising costs and slower sales we did try our best and stayed open for pretty much the majority of the pandemic to keep serving all our customers safely and with care but this did take its toll on us especially now with the cost of living and the prices of food and utilities going through the roof.
“Our main concern now is losing all our older customers that we have first thing every morning without fail and leave them without their daily safe space- a place for routine, peace conversation and connection.
“We understand how important we are to most of them and it would break our hearts to have to say goodbye. This business isn't just only an income it's been a passion and built with care by our family over many years.
“We're coming together now as a family to reach out to everyone for any help possible to help Lynn and Graham keep their journey going for as long as they can and also for Rita's legacy to stay alive as most of our customers will remember how much she loved it.
“It's a long shot but any help from the community and our amazing customers that are able to donate, share or just even leave a kind message it truly means more than we can express every little bit of support helps and we will be deeply grateful! We don't know how far this will go but it's worth a try... thank you for reading and thank you to all our customers we appreciate you all!”
The fundraiser has a target of £1,500 to support Rita’s, with more than £1,100 already donated in just one day. Donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-ritas-cafe.