Hi I’m Adrian
their own life in the UK (Samaritans). We have to do something about this.
The Lookout
My wife had wanted to live in Cornwall for quite some time, so in 2018 we moved here. I’d wanted a community coffee shop for ages and so trained as a Barista and then supervised at a local Bistro learning a great deal about the hospitality industry. When ‘The Lookout’ in Looe came up for sale we knew it was the next step in our lives. I think the name also confirmed it, the coffee shop has an amazing view but we wanted to ‘lookout’ for others in our community too, our tag line is ‘Coffee|Food|Community’.
We opened in May 2020, just as the first lockdown was slowly being relaxed. Once this current lockdown is lifted we’ll be introducing ‘Waffle’, a gathering for locals to meet new people and eat waffles. We also offer a ‘Pay-it-Forward’ token scheme so that people can buy a coffee for someone else that may have limited finances, feel lonely or just in need of a chat. We give tokens to the local GP surgeries, and plan to offer them to barbers and hairdressers to encourage those on their own and lonely to come for a chat and meet others.
Once a month we’ll be hosting a ‘Bloke’s Breakfast’; a chance to get to know and, in time, support other fellas. We were hosting a craft group which was so successful we had to alternate weekly meetings as it was oversubscribed. That too will reconvene when possible.
Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t all roses, I still struggle, but I have the amazing support of family and friends. I’m also struggling with the challenges and restrictions of this Pandemic, I can’t open my shop which I love and I miss the people we meet so much. But at least I’m taking time with my wife.
Adrian
