IT’S a huge sigh of relief for a Redditch community organisation as its café has finally reopened after being cut off from electricity for more than five weeks.

Courtyard Eatery, which helps fund Inspire Community Training and a charity shop, has been closed since the start of the year after its electricity supply was cut off.

Karen Martin, director of Inspire Community Training, said the organisation was struggling at the end of last year and could not pay their electricity bill in November and December.

Unbeknown to staff, due to postal strikes and the Christmas break, their electrical company, Total Energies, had written a letter to the café asking them to pay for their bill or their supply would be stopped.

When staff turned up on January 9, representatives from Total Energies demanded £1,500, which the cafe did not have so the electricity was cut off.

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Following weeks of emptying collection buckets and a successful GoFundMe page, the café raised enough money to cover costs but could not pay Total Energies as it was not their final bill.

Karen received an apology from Total Energies for the level of service received and the company re-energised power.

“Total Energies said we could stay with them, but we have taken the decision to leave and will start a contract with British Gas on February 24.

Courtyard Eatery finally reopened on February 17 much to the delight of volunteers and customers.

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“I am massively relieved, and our volunteers are so happy to be back – the impact on them has been massive," said Karen.

“We lost around £3,500 overall. We raised money from the GoFundMe page but now that’s plateaued we need to bring money in.

“Morrisons raised £365 for us at Christmas so we used that to fill our freezers and bought a microwave.”

Karen said although it was a stressful time there was more time to focus on the baby bank.

The child and baby bank supplies clothing, shoes, bedding, milk, and nappies to anyone in need.

The bank has helped young parents starting out, women in emergency accommodation and single parents struggling to make ends meet.

“We now have 107 people using it now,” said Karen.

“The Courtyard Eatery brings all our services together – it acts as a hub.

“We sit down with people, have a coffee with them and talk about the support we can give.

“It’s a meeting place for so many people and so many groups – it brings the community together.

“We don’t charge people for food if they are really struggling, and we have signed up to the warm space scheme.”

“Hopefully we can get our clubs who used the Courtyard Eatery back and we have an Easter event and the Kings Coronation events in the planning as well.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the baby bank to generate funding for emergency items such as milk or to cover the costs of fuel in the bank’s van to deliver and collect donations.

To donate visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/community-baby-and-child-bank.