ReCHarge Café Set To Open Its Doors Next Month At Bon Accord

16/03/2019
Susan Crighton, Director of Fundraising
Susan Crighton, Director of Fundraising

Local children’s charity Charlie House is set to open the doors of its new café next month. ReCHarge Café, which will be located next to Game on the upper mall of Bon Accord, will see 100% of profits go to Charlie House which supports babies, children and young people with complex disabilities and life-limiting conditions, and their families, in the North-east of Scotland. The new-look café will open in April. 

The Charlie House team embarked on a public fundraising campaign in November to raise £8million for a specialist support centre to be built on the grounds of Woodend Hospital. The centre will be an 8-bedroom centre, with additional family accommodation, set in 4 acres of ground. The state-of-the-art building will feature a sensory room, library, spa pool, craft room, teen den, soft play area, therapy room, star room, for end-of-life care & bereavement, outdoor play area and sensory gardens as well as adaptable meeting space and office space for the Charlie House team and medical staff.

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Following on from the former Tempo Café offering within Bon Accord, which supported several charities over the past few years, the original concept of paying solely for your time will be refreshed with customers paying based on their experience at ReCHarge Café. The café will be manned by both employees and volunteers. 

Susan Crighton, Director of fundraising at Charlie House, says, “We have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure the café is ready for its Spring opening and have been working with many local companies who have been offering generous support. We are excited to open the doors very shortly and welcome our first customers. We wanted to get the food offering, team and atmosphere just right so that our customers continue to come back time and time again.”

Susan continues, “It’s not often that you can say that your daily coffee or lunch is also supporting a local charity and in this case it really does. The decision you make to eat and drink in ReCHarge Café has a direct effect on the lives of families right here in the North-east. All profits made from the café will go towards the invaluable services that Charlie House provides including our activity clubs, Community Nurse stationed at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, annual short break to Kielder Forest Park, Big Build project and practical and emotional support to families in the North-east of Scotland.”

Craig Stevenson, centre manager of Bon Accord, says, “We are delighted to welcome ReCHarge to Bon Accord and offer our customers the chance to support local charity Charlie House whilst enjoying their lunch.  The Charlie House team have worked hard on creating the unique concept which I’m sure will be very popular with our customers.”

ReCHarge Café will offer hot and cold food and drinks, free Wifi, free charging points, children’s activity areas, Charlie House merchandise and a changing space for families to have the adequate space and privacy they require. 

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