Woman fulfils dream as autism-friendly cafe opens

Katie Ward (right), pictured with daughter Mollie, 15, said she had to make sure she would be "financially safe"

A woman who fulfilled a childhood dream of having her own cafe has made it autism-friendly.

Mother-of-two Katie Ward, 39, whose six-year-old son has additional needs, has reopened The Teapot at Milton in Stoke-on-Trent.

It has pale colours and a children's play area and lights can be dimmed.

Mrs Ward said growing up she wanted a cafe to be able to sell her own cake and opening it "was a little bit like a whirlwind".

She said: "I lost a cousin last year who was exactly the same age as me and that was my wake-up call to kind of go 'do you know what, I'm 40 next year? It's now or never'.

"There'll always be reasons not to do things and sometimes you've just got to take that chance."

Mrs Ward said the opportunity came up, she "grabbed it with both hands" and three weeks later, on Saturday, she opened her own cafe.

The new owner, who stated she had to make sure she would be "financially safe", has dyslexia and dyspraxia and used to write wellbeing courses on mental health programmes.

'Very hands on'

She said she had the flexibility to turn the lights down for anyone if they felt it was too bright.

Mrs Ward, a council worker for 12 years, said: "Growing up, school was never very easy for me, but I was very hands on.

"I absolutely loved cookery. I loved baking... So I kind of always thought... I'd quite like to put my cakes in a cafe.

"I'm originally from Pembrokeshire... There was always lots of cafes that popped up in the summer months, so that was kind of always my childhood dream."

She added: "For me, life's too short. You need to go and do what you want to do."