Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies has praised a woman from Rhyl who has endured tough, personal challenges, but now aims to help others in need at the community cafe she has opened in the town.
Along with her mother Margaret, Emma Elliott has opened the ‘Storm in a Teacup’ cafe, which is based in the Ffordd Las Community Centre.
On Friday morning, James officially opened the new facility, along with Rhyl Deputy Mayor, Cllr Cheryl Williams.
Emma was a sales woman who had, then lost, it all. After experiencing some ”personal trauma” in Dubai last April, she moved back to Rhyl and found herself homeless.
However, instead of wallowing in her new situation, she decided to channel her energy into helping others, igniting her desire to create a welcoming ‘safe space’ for the local community.
After securing funding from the National Lottery and Rhyl Coastal Partnership (RCP), she was able to turn her dream into a reality.
Along with her mother, and son Storm, whom she named the cafe after, she spent months working on the new hub in preparation for its official opening.
In his words at the launch, James thanked Emma and Margaret for inviting him to open the cafe and commended them on creating such a welcoming facility for the community.
Commenting afterwards, he said:
“Emma really is quite remarkable. Most people who find themselves in the situation in which she found herself only last April would struggle to carry on, but instead she has focused on creating something which will be of great benefit to others.
“I was extremely impressed with the cafe. They have certainly met their aim of creating a ‘new and unique user-friendly cafe, with both a compassionate and personal touch’.
“It is a welcoming environment and I am sure that it will become a sanctuary for a great many in the community - a place where they can escape challenges in life, and always find a listening ear.
“I wish Emma the very best of luck and encourage people to support her by visiting the cafe. I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.”
Emma said:
“It has always been my dream to open a cafe and I always knew that when I eventually did it would be named ‘Storm in a Teacup’ after my lovely son Storm.
“I can’t quite believe that we are where we are today. My aim was to create a safe space for the whole community that promotes wellbeing and inclusivity, and I believe that’s what we have achieved.
“All the food that we will sell will come from the Rhyl based community bakery, ‘Use Your Loaf’, and we will also use local and start-up businesses in a bid to promote them. I’m not in this for the money, I just want to give back.
“The primary purpose is to provide a safe space. We have a no purchase mandatory policy so that if someone has no money, they can still come to the cafe and sit. There will also be a ‘Chat and Natter’ table, creating a space where people visiting the cafe can come together and chat, helping to tackle loneliness in our community.”
Emma also aims to help people who are looking to get back into work by offering work experience.
She added:
“Since being homeless and living in temporary accommodation, I have learnt so much about addiction. I want to help people get off that revolving door, so that they feel strong enough to make the changes needed to get back on track.
“Today's official opening has been a great success and I now look forward to opening to the public next week.”
Storm in a Teacup will be open Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm from January 22nd.
