Christchurch cafe wins Daily Echo's Café of the Year

Mum’s Café in Fairmile is one of nine winners for the South West region, and the only champion in the Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch area.

Having opened eight years ago, the café has grown a big reputation locally for its all-day breakfasts, charming interior and personal approach to customer service.

• "It's amazing": Shoppers react to Bobby's reopening
• Vegan café owner told to remove mural is saving to buy a new one

After accepting hundreds of votes and nominations for cafes across the conurbation, Mums Café was declared the outright winner, receiving more than 25 per cent of the votes out of the top ten establishments.

“It feels amazing,” said owner Ana Milner.

“When we were contacted by the Echo, I didn’t even think about it. Afterwards I thought that we could have been first or second, but this is fantastic.”

Nestled amongst a cluster of shops on St Catherines Parade, Mum’s Café has quickly established itself as a focal point of the community.

Throughout the pandemic, the café remained open for takeaways and offered deliveries to customers isolating in their homes.

• READ MORE: A look at the newly reopened Flirt Café

Ana said: “During the lockdowns, we were doing deliveries for some of our usual, customers and elderly people in the community. Some of them would pick up and have a chat with us as we were doing takeaways.

“We usually finish at 3pm but I would usually go around delivering dinners to some people at 6pm. We are open on Saturdays and usually close on Sundays, but I was working on Sundays doing deliveries.

“I would go to their homes and drop of the food and end up talking to them for an hour. For the elderly customers in particular, I would water their plants and help them out as much as I could,” she added.

“I know some people who really struggled during the lockdowns so I would go over to visit them as often as I could. It would make the days go faster and, for them, it would bring a smile to their face."

Alongside their breakfast option, the café also have a lunch menu, lunchtime special which change weekly and a selection of desserts.

Ana, who works says that her approach to customer service is through a thoughtful attitude and to make life as easy for the customer as possible.

She added: “I think, for me, they are not just customers, they are family.

“People come in and I know what they want. I remember the orders of our regular customers and can usual work out what some of our new customers want as well.”

“We have a lot of locals come in but also people from across Christchurch and even further afield.

“We have people who come on holiday from London. I may not see them for six months or so, but I recognise them when they come in and they always say, ‘how do you remember us?’”

Staff at Mum’s Café say they would like to thank customers and the wider community for their support during the lockdown and since restrictions have been lifted.

“I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has supported us and voted for us,” said Ana.

“One thing I always say to our customers is that ‘we can’t do it without you’.

“We all help each other out here and our loyal customers have been absolutely amazing.”