The idea to upgrade the cafe was born 18 months ago as a lack of space caused by an oversized staircase was giving the team operational difficulties.
That has now been replaced.
‘We’ve taken out the old staircase and put in a new one that is half the size so we have so much space now,’ said charity director Sue Devine.
‘We’re going to be able to all our cooking and cleaning downstairs which will make things a lot easier.'
Not only does the cafe have more space, it will also have brand new kitchen facilities, which has been enabled by a multitude of donations.
At this stage the building has new stairs, walls and ceiling and has had its electricity and plumbing put in.
The project has been undertaken by Utopia Construction.
The next stage is new flooring.
‘The cafe will be very smart and swish but there will still be the same warm feeling as there’s always been,’ said Ms Devine.
‘It will also encourage more tourists as well as the regulars and make Mill Street a better place.’
The Mill Street Community Cafe was formerly the Caritas Community Cafe, owned by the Church of England Deanery.
It was purchased by an anonymous islander in late 2021.
It aims to provide cheap food and drinks to those who would otherwise struggle to afford it and is run by volunteers to offset salary costs.
Once reopened, the cafe is also looking to continue working with the Art for Guernsey gallery in Mansell Street, for which it has provided catering on multiple occasions.
You need to be logged in to comment. If you had an account on our previous site, you can migrate your old account and comment profile to this site by visiting this page and entering the email address for your old account. We'll then send you an email with a link to follow to complete the process.