AN EXCITING new future is planned for a cafe that is a melting pot of culture and community in St Helens.
Launching Cafe Laziz as an innovative way to integrate refugees and asylum seekers and improve their English skills, Debra Hill has stepped down from running the project after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Debra, aged 50, is still in good health as doctors manage her condition, but she said that the "time is right" to hand over the reins to new manager, Emma Bamber.
As the cafe has been such a success in improving the volunteer's English skills and confidence, and has been talked about at regional conferences, Emma said that it is an "absolute pleasure" to take over the project.
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Emma, who worked with Debra at the council's English Speakers of Other Languages classes, said: "I'm really excited about the future of the cafe.
"I already know most of the volunteers and I think it's so necessary. It's a perfect way for them to integrate, socialise, and improve their English skills.
"There are a lot more people coming in now and I really think we can grow it and make it something bigger."
With Cafe Laziz open for the public to try cuisines from around the world, Emma hopes to bring new energy to the project and encourage the volunteers to create a fresh menu every week.
She also hopes to bring the volunteer's meals out of their Peter Street hub to events and food festivals around St Helens.
This will allow the volunteers to share their culture with more people in St Helens and show the wider community what Cafe Laziz is all about.
As the cafe currently shares its space with the Central Link Children's Centre on the edge of the town centre, the end goal is for the cafe to have its own space and continue growing the project.
Debra, who still comes in to enjoy a meal at Cafe Laziz, said she is enjoying taking the time out to look after her health and not managing the extra stress associated with running the cafe.
"It's great because I'm ready to hand it over. If I was still running it, I would just be plodding along with it every week" she said.
"But because I know Emma and I know how many ideas she has got, I know it's going to grow and grow.
"It's absolutely the right time to hand it over, for my health, for the cafe, and for Emma too."
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