A CAFÉ serving “St Helens on a plate” is proving a big success after breathing new life into one of the town’s best-known attractions.
The new café at The World of Glass has been warmly received since opening at the front of the museum, with encouraging footfall and positive feedback from visitors.
Its prominent new position beside the main entrance has made the café more accessible, while giving customers a bright and welcoming place to meet, eat and relax alongside the building’s large windows.
But it is the café’s distinctly local flavour that has helped it stand out.
Its menu champions some of the borough’s best-known food producers, including Cottoms pies and sausage rolls and Barton’s pickles, plus sweet treats from Pimbletts. Coffee supplies, meanwhile, come from Crosby Coffee Ltd.
The café also offers toasties, sandwiches, soup, cakes, tea, coffee and other drinks. Since opening in the summer, it has also tweaked the menu, with dishes such as homemade lasagne proving a hit with customers.
Leading the venture is Victoria “Vicky” Collier, who previously managed The Coffee House in St Helens town centre before joining The World of Glass team.
Speaking shortly after the café’s soft launch, she said: “I absolutely love it."
When the venue opened over summer, Craig Middlehurst, commercial operations manager at The World of Glass, said the aim was to support the borough’s independent businesses while giving visitors a genuine taste of the town.
He said: “We want to serve St Helens on a plate and be supportive of local businesses.”
The café’s early promise was demonstrated during the International Festival of Glass, when the museum welcomed artists, collectors and visitors from across the UK and overseas.
The World of Glass was packed during the festival’s opening day, with its new café bustling as visitors moved between exhibitions, demonstrations and talks.
The investment forms part of wider changes at The World of Glass, with the space previously occupied by the café freed up for additional exhibitions.
The café’s successful start represents another positive step for The World of Glass following a difficult period in which the museum faced the threat of closure.
An emergency fundraising campaign subsequently generated £87,000 with the support of residents, businesses, community fundraisers and grant providers.
The Chalon Way attraction later received £286,000 from the Arts Council England Museum Renewal Fund, helping it to stabilise its finances and plan for its future.
With its local produce, familiar faces and inviting new location, the café is helping The World of Glass become more than somewhere people visit for an exhibition.
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