One year on...

It's been just over a year now since the building work began. Phase one is complete and our doors have been open to the public since May. It's been great to see the place being used well, not just by us but by other groups in the community like the new mother and toddler group. Cafe Izaya is going well so far. We have a great team of volunteers and a good bunch of regulars who come down and hang out at the cafe. I love the atmosphere there - like hanging out with family. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster getting to where we are now and the journey's not over yet. We've learned a lot and only just feel like we've totally got our heads round running the place. But now we've got the hang of the basics it gives us freedom to start to grow this thing and really see where we can take it. Jeff and I are both gonna be stepping back from the cafe and moving into new things but we've already started training up people to take over. Mel is great with the youth and has lots of ideas - I'm looking forward to seeing where she's gonna take things in the future. And Tom is great at all the stock control, accounts, health and safety and all that jazz. He's already really helped things to run a lot more smoothly!!!