Oxfordshire: A community appeals for help to save popular cafe from closure

Cherwell Collective founder Emily Connally (left) is hoping her team can buy the Eden Cafe from owner Bex Hinds (right)

A community has appealed for help to save a popular vegan cafe, which is being sold after the owner was diagnosed with cancer.

Bex Hinds, owner of the Eden Cafe in Witney, Oxfordshire, said the diagnosis had "put a spanner in the works".

Residents contacted the Cherwell Collective, which works to reduce the community's carbon footprint.

The non-profit organisation has set up a campaign to raise £75,000 to help buy the cafe by June.

Emily Connally, the collective's founder, said several members of the community had reached out to ask for help.

She explained: "The community came to us and said this is a safe place that we go to when we're feeling down, we know that there will always be a smile there.

"I think that was the sign to us that something really special happens here."

As an environmental organisation, Cherwell Collective said it supported the cafe's vegan philosophy and wants to help to save the plant-based menu at the site. It also hopes to run more community events at the venue.

Ms Hinds said her cancer diagnosis had "put a spanner in the works" but helped her to focus on her own health and well-being.

She said selling the business "was a really difficult decision to make" but added that her illness had helped with this, explaining: "The one gift that cancer gave me was learning to let go."

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