ABBY'S Cafe in Whitehaven is set to celebrate its one year anniversary at the end of May and will raise money for a vital local charity to mark the occasion.

The cafe was opened on May 27 last year by Abby Roper who was 19 at the time, and has been thriving ever since.

The anniversary will be marked by raising funds for Whitehaven Stroke Club. Abby’s gran suffered a massive stroke in 2019 and the support of this local group has made a real difference to her recovery. The group is self-funded and as such Abby is keen to help and support them.

Abby’s Café has gone from strength to strength in its first year and Abby said she is "absolutely over the moon with how successful her little venture is and fully appreciates that it would not be the success it is without her wonderful customers."

Abby's mother, Claire, shared how proud she was of her daughter. She said: "As her parents we were initially surprised about her chosen career path but once Abby had made her decision that this is what she wanted to do she showed nothing but determination to make it happen.

"We are so proud of what she has achieved and we will continue to support her as much as we can to help the business continue to grow."

Since opening, the cafe has lots of regular customers as well as new visitors most days. One online review even claims that Abby’s is the 'best breakfast in town'.

Claire said: "It has been a steep learning curve for Abby, opening a business at the young age of 19 but she has taken this in her stride and loves her little café so much."

Over the year, the cafe has started to expand as Abby has started to do outside catering and is hoping the business will grow to accommodate more of this and private functions such as baby showers and birthday parties.

Abby said: "We can only hope the coming year is as successful as the first."

Both Abby and her parents, would like to thank all of her regular customers and hopes to see more and more new faces.

To support the first birthday of the cafe and join in on the celebration, you can pop in to buy raffle tickets or come along on May 27 to join in.