To all of our lovely Customers, Friends and Followers

We started experiencing huge losses in trade due to Covid-19 as our outside catering bookings were cancelled. At the same time, our other two most important sources of income (weekday lunches and weekend brunches) dwindled away as people began to stop going out. Our concerns for our customers' and our staff's wellbeing led to us closing 3 days before the Government advice.

Unfortunately, even though we are closed, we still need to pay our bills, equipment hire, insurance and staff wages. This would have been manageable had we been entitled to access the government small business grant, or the furlough scheme, or have been able to make a successful insurance claim. While we are fighting these decisions behind the scenes, time is not on our side.

As a new business, we were just at the point of going into profit, January and February were good months for us. We do not yet have any emergency savings, and sadly if we don't access some form of funding, we will not survive. We have never asked for any help before, but this is our last resort.

We've been very keen to establish the cafe as a vibrant hub for our local community and beyond, supporting local social enterprises such as New Routes and New Ground Coffee, supporting local businesses such as Produce Warriors, Jeeves and Jericho Tea, TruLeaf Farms. We want to continue to grow our business partnerships, with ethics and social responsibility at the heart of what we do. We feel really sad and desperate to do this fundraising to keep our cafe alive, but in such difficult times this money raising campaign is our very last resort.

We are not asking for money for nothing. Please have a look at the rewards you will get in return for your donation (please see below)

Thank you for reading this far and we thank you if you consider helping us. Another way to support would be to buy gift vouchers to redeem once we reopen.

Stay safe,

Lucy and all at #TeamTom

Tom's Diner

REWARDS:

Pledge £5 or more: You get our love! Heaps of it!

Pledge £15 or more: You get a hot drink and a slice of cake/cupcake next time you visit us.

Pledge £25 or more: You and your partner/friend get a hot drink and a slice of cake/cupcake next time you visit us.

Pledge £50 or more: You and your partner/friend get a hot drink and a slice of cake/cupcake next time you visit us, plus a limited edition Tom's Diner tote bag.

Pledge £100 or more You get a card which grants you free coffee or tea in 2020. (Limited to one per day) +limited edition Tom's Diner tote bag.

Pledge £150 or more You get an exclusive Tom's Diner discount card which gives you 10% off in 2020 and 2021. (For purchases made in the shop eat in/take away). + limited edition Tom's Diner tote bag and T shirt

Pledge £400 or more You get an original Tom's Diner recipe every month by email for a year. 12 recipes in total. Includes ingredients, method, pictures and pro tips +limited edition Tom's Diner tote bag and T shirt + one masterclass with one of our talented team

Fundraising information:

Funds will be spent on upkeep of the shop's premises, equipment hire, staff wages, bills and supplies to reopen. Welcome to Tom's Diner