Mandala Café on Chesterfield Road, Sheffield, has raised almost £3,000 from the community to double its capacity by knocking down a wall next door.
The move is in response to owner Adam Heyes frequently turning away guests due to being full, as well as the ability to have bigger and better gigs, classes, meetings, and events.
One of its regulars described it as a ‘community hub’.
Owner Adam said: “What we want to do with Mandala is get a little bit bigger so that we can make the events a bit better. We’ve got regular LGBTQIA+ nights which are a safe space for people who maybe don’t really want to go to clubs and bars, or they don’t really want people all around them.
“Once we’ve expanded, there’ll be double the capacity for food and coffee during the day. But also, there’ll be more seats for gigs, we’ll be able to get different artists down to perform, and it’ll become more of a local little venue. It’s really sweet because it is so intimate, but it could just stand to be that little bit bigger.”
The café which opened in July 2022, opens itself up for people to perform, whilst they’ve also hosted talent shows, classes, a book club, and even psychic nights.
Adam added: “It’s about the size of a stamp at the minute, a normal gig at the minute can fit about 25 people which isn’t a lot but its intimate and compact and really good fun. I used to work for Starbucks and Costa years ago, with the people all being the same, the coffee cups being all the same and not feeling like you can talk to the people next you whereas here, I feel like a therapist for free sometimes.
People have told me when they first walk in they’re like wow this place, it’s so colourful, the vibes really nice and the guy behind the till’s really nice, everyone’s talking to each other and they’re all friendly and I don’t think people know this until they come in.”
The café has set up a crowd funder where people can donate to help the café expand its walls. They’ve currently raised just under £3,000 in as little as three weeks.
The café has also been shortlisted for Exposed magazine’s Best Café award, with the winner set to be announced on May 9.
Adam described the opportunity as once in a lifetime and they plan to begin work on the expansion in the next couple of weeks.
You can help the cafés expansion plans by donating here.