The door is still open for a popular Ventnor cafe and inclusion hub to get funding from its local town council.
Concerns the Better Days Cafe had been snubbed by a £37,000 Community Support Fund led to its founder, Kirsty Chapman, attending a Ventnor Town Council meeting last week, to demand answers.
She said:
“We attended to ask why, from such a grand pot of money collected from the public, we had received nothing.”
A colleague of Kirsty’s also read out from a spreadsheet all they have done for the community since opening a year ago — which has recently included offering free tea and toast to children after school acting as a warm space to get homework done or relax.
Kirsty also pointed out the town council’s own wellbeing cafe had been awarded cash from the community support fund.
She said she did not really receive an answer but a meeting is being set up for a later date.
A Ventnor Town Council spokesperson has clarified the position saying the potential for the Better Days Cafe to receive funding is still there and there is no opposition to doing so.
The town council set up the Community Support Fund earlier this year as a result of a film it commissioned, ‘Family Voice’, highlighting poverty in Ventnor and its impact on residents.
Since it was set up to address some of the issues showcased in the film, £20,000 was donated by one resident and £5,000 put in by the town council and, along with other donations, has so far raised £37,500.
A council committee makes decisions as to where the money goes — which has included £3,500 to its own wellbeing cafe.
The spokesperson confirmed Better Days Cafe had asked for funding, which the town council is happy to discuss, but the way the cafe is set up means it is a not-for-profit company, not a charity.
They said it did not mean the cafe could not be given money but the council has to do due diligence and check there were appropriate policies in place, like safeguarding, to meet its responsibilities.
Efforts will now continue to try and fix a day for a meeting.
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