Caistor Arts and Heritage Centre reopens to serve the community

The cafe layout has been changed to allow more space EMN-201013-115940001

That is the message from Stephanie Rich, the manager of Caistor Arts and Heritage as the cafe and library open for the first time since lockdown.

While the centre could have opened earlier,  Stephanie said they wanted to take time to ‘make  sure they got it right’.

She continued: “We wanted to see what other people were doing and also to really look into ways we could reopen safely.

Bespoke screens have been added to the library EMN-201013-115952001

“The library has only very recently been given the go-ahead to reopen, so to open the cafe on its own  would have been difficult.

“As soon as we opened the doors, we would incur costs, so we had to be careful and protect the charity’s funds too.

“It also made sense to wait until the schools went back in September, as we have a lot of the students using our facilities.”

When the decision was made to open, Stephanie says she ‘rallied the troops’ to get everything ready.

She continued: “It was busy few weeks, but our volunteers came out in force to help get everything ready”

The layout of the centre’s cafe area has changed to allow flow of movement and distancing.

Track and trace is in place, with the QR code instructions readily available at all tables.

Hand sanitiser stations are in place and bespoke screens have been made for both the cafe and library areas.

Stephanie added: “We are really pleased with our screens, which have been made by Ian Salsbury, one of our lovely volunteers.

“We have had some great comments from customers saying how safe they feel too.”

The cafe and library are operating reduced hours (10am to 2pm), Monday to Saturday - and the cafe menu has also been reduced. A one-way system is in place, with library users asked to use the side entrance and cafe customers the front entrance.

Stephanie has expressed grateful thanks to the Friends of Caistor Arts and Heritage Centre, whose regular donations have kept the centre running, along with the charity shop, which has been well supported.

The centre has also just received a grant of £10,700 from the Culture Recovery Fund

Stephanie said: “We are delighted that we have been awarded this grant, it will be used for much needed repairs to the Centre and Library to improve our heritage displays and help us better  serve our community.”