Owners’ plea to save Clart About Sensory Cafe, Consett
Lynn Hammel-Randall from Consett has been forced to close Clart About Sensory Cafe multiple times over the last few months following her breast cancer diagnosis in August.
The 45-year-old set up the cafe in 2018 and has supported hundreds of families, spurred on by her experience of post natal depression after birth of her son Thomas, now 18.
But her diagnosis, the news her cancer has spread, multiple hospital appointments and upcoming treatment has meant the cafe is open less – putting its future in question.
“I found out after my mastectomy that the cancer has spread. It came as a big shock,” Lynn said.
“The fear of having the cafe, knowing it is being run single handedly by my husband, Mark, is hard.
“On my hospital days, he’s having to close the cafe and we don’t have extra staff due to footfall. We’ve fought through Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis to this year.
“This year has been our hardest year to keep the cafe going. With low footfall, we’ve had that pressure hanging over us and now we have my diagnosis.”
The mum-of-five’s journey began back in July, when a chance finding of what she described as a “dent” saw her go to the doctors where she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Following a mastectomy, Lynn was told that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, meaning she is set to start chemotherapy imminently.
She added: “Now we know I’m going to need chemotherapy, it’s difficult because nobody knows how I am going to react to it.
“We don’t know how many days we are going to need to close. We are hanging by a thread and need to figure out whether we can sustain it.
“I have five children, but the cafe is like my sixth child. I’ve invested blood, sweat and tears into it. I know that the cafe is so needed, and how important it is to the community.”
To help ease the burden of costs, Lynn set up a GoFundMe which has so far raised Β£1,550 – putting her well on her way to sustain the cafe amid her cancer battle.
She added: “The support has been lovely – families who came to us when we first opened have reached out to us.
“Knowing it has made a difference to people’s lives is so special. When you get a cancer diagnosis, you feel like you are on your own and nobody understands how you feel.
“Customers have been so understanding when we have had to close last minute.”