The Cat Cafe

Aim

The Cat Café is a new cafe opening in Birmingham in which we have many feline friends. Come and enjoy them in a clean, cosy place.

Project aim:

The Cat Café is a new cafe opening in Birmingham in which we have many feline friends. Come and enjoy them in a clean, cosy place.

About the project:

Welcome:We’ve been planning to open a cat café for a long time now, and have been giving it very careful thought and consideration. There’s a lot to think about with cafes- especially ones containing ten cats- such as health and safety, food hygiene, continued animal welfare- and we’ve planned it all! We could go on and on about all of the small details but we’ll just dish you the good stuff, and if you have any questions, feel free to contact us through our facebook!www.facebook.com/TheCatCafeUK

We felt that the presence of a cat cafe in both London and Edinburgh meant that there would be a great place for one in the Midlands.

Motivation:Part of the motivation behind this Cat Cafe is Animal Assisted Therapy. I (Alex) personally have come out of a long term illness in where I was regularly shut in my house. The main thing that kept me going was my cat, and I started to research how animals could help people with their mental and physical illnesses, including patients undertaking physiotherapy, those with learning difficulties, those with anxiety or depressive disorders, and so on. I soon found out this sort of care wasn’t easily accessible, and not everyone has the means to support a pet. I also was fascinated and amazed at the Cat Cafe’s in Japan and this really motivated me to merge the two together. At our Cat Cafe, we will be offering animal assisted therapy for free to those in the local area every day, and really hope to make a real difference in the community.

Location:The Cat Café is going to be a vintage style cafe in central Birmingham, hopefully close to New Street.

Funding:To allow us to secure funding for our central location, we need to raise at least £16,000 to get everything we need - which banks are waiting for us to acquire so we can prove to them how serious we are, move forward with our plans and acquire premises.

So your donations will go towards:

• Specialist cat advisers on cat welfare in the cafe.
• Medical expenses and grooming for the cats.
• Refurbishing the building to make it cat-appropriate.
• Restaurant equipment, furniture and decor.
• Cat equipment such as ramps and shelves, beds and bowls.
• and finally; THE RESCUE CATS themselves!

Your donations can get you some really fantastic rewards including original art and goodie bags and this CrowdFunder is also crucial to give us the help and support we need to start something magical and truly special in Birmingham!

Community:We spoke to some lovely people from the Kings Heath Cat Club as well as many excited people from around the city and everyone has been very supportive and interested in having this cafe in the city. We have also had some invaluable help from the community around us, and wish to thank you all for your support. We hope to have a very central location near New Street Station- but out the way of all the hustle and bustle so our cats can have their much needed privacy as well as play time.

Menu:Our menu will have wonderful teas and freshly made barista coffees as well as tasty snacks, cakes and light bites with a selection for Vegans and Coeliacs. We hope to add some light meals and hot food to our selection in the future.

A special service we have planned called 'Mini Morning Meow' will allow our customers to book shorter 15 minute sessions in the morning before work so they can have a fun and furry start to their day!

Decor:The decor inside will be vintage with a black and white theme. This help keeps the environment neutral and allows the cats to relax further. The cats will have all sorts of shelves, posts and climbing apparatus to allow them to move around the cafe, sleep where they wish as well as easily access the back area for feeding, toilet times, and privacy.

The Cat Café:As our cats are indoor cats we will be keeping our cat's claws nice and trim to prevent our customers, us, our furniture and our cat caretaker getting a few scrapes! Animal Welfare is our number one priority and we work closely with vets, animal geniuses and the local community to make sure our cats are well and truly spoilt.

A wonderful position will be open at the cat cafe for our resident Cat Caretaker. This position will involve looking after the cats room and not serving customers. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome those who may not want to work in front of house but still work with the cats. The position is full time so the cats have someone they know in their sleeping and feeding area. The person will have training in cat care and grooming to allow them to provide a premium level of on-site care to our cats. We will also be looking for volunteers and staff nearer to opening our doors.

Thank you very much for your help,

Alexandra & Eric :3

This project closed unsuccessfully on 13th March 2015