Café that donates profits to charity hits milestone

The not-for-profit coffee shop is run entirely by volunteers

A community coffee shop which serves "the best cheese scones in Somerset" is celebrating a milestone in its 18-year history.

The team at the café in North Curry, near Taunton, is run entirely by volunteers and has donated to more than 175 charities - all nominated by staff.

They are celebrating after raising more than £250,000 for charities.

"Everyone earns points for the hours they work and then every six months we allocate the profits to their chosen charities," said manager Penny Ross.

The North Curry Community Coffee Shop is in the centre of the village in an historic restored stable, which also houses the local archives.

Ms Ross said since opening in May 2006 as a non-profit enterprise, the café has brought together communities in the surrounding villages, as well as regular visitors.

Each volunteer is able to nominate a favourite charity to benefit from the proceeds of the shop

"Our cyclists say we have the best cheese scones in Somerset," Ms Ross told BBC Radio Somerset.

"We also do hot food and sandwiches, so there's something for everyone," she added.

Love Musgrove, the group that fundraises for Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, said: "Our donation and continued support enables us to continue to improve the experience of patients."

Dementia UK is one of the recipients and said the donation would help fund specialist Admiral Nurses.

"It's really only thanks to all our wonderful volunteers and our amazing customers who support us. We have no staff costs so we can keep our prices low and donate all our profits to charities and local good causes," said Ms Ross.

"We are always looking for new volunteers for working in the coffee shop, baking cakes behind the counter, shopping or doing all the back office stuff as well," she added.