{"id":187934,"date":"2025-10-09T11:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/187934\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T11:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:35:11","slug":"anger-as-cherished-devon-cafe-faces-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/187934\/","title":{"rendered":"Anger as ‘cherished’ Devon caf\u00e9 faces closure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Residents are rallying behind a petition to save it\"TivertonTiverton Marks & Spencer<\/p>\n

A caf\u00e9 that has long served as a social hub is facing closure \u2014 and residents are rallying to save it.<\/p>\n

Tessa Lawson has launched a petition to stop Marks & Spencer from shutting down its caf\u00e9<\/a> inside the Tiverton<\/a> store, describing it as a \u201ccherished gathering place\u201d relied upon by generations of locals.<\/p>\n

In her petition on Change.org, Tessa wrote: \u201cThe caf\u00e9 inside Marks and Spencer’s in Tiverton, Devon, holds a special place in my heart, as well as in the hearts of countless other community members and visitors. It’s not just any caf\u00e9; it’s a cherished gathering place, a community hub.\u201d<\/p>\n

She warned that many elderly residents who use the space for regular social interaction could be left isolated. \u201cMany elderly residents, who rely on the caf\u00e9 as a place of social interaction, will lose a vital social lifeline. Families with young children, who enjoy a friendly spot to rest during shopping trips, will face another blow,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Citing studies that show caf\u00e9s help reduce loneliness and support mental health, she urged Marks & Spencer to consider \u201ccreative and sustainable solutions\u201d rather than shuttering the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tiverton community is vibrant and resilient. By banding together, we can show Marks and Spencer the true value of our caf\u00e9,\u201d Tessa wrote. \u201cPlease help us protect this vital piece of our community by signing this petition. Your support is crucial in making our voices heard and preserving this cherished local treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marks & Spencer confirmed that changes are under way at the store but has not given a specific closure date.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said: \u201cWe have some exciting changes planned for our Tiverton store and will be revealing more details soon. In the meantime, we are re-purposing our caf\u00e9 space to offer a wider range of produce from our M&S Select Farms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson acknowledged that the move \u201cwill be disappointing news for some customers\u201d but added the store team would \u201ccontinue working hard to serve them\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Residents are rallying behind a petition to save itTiverton Marks & Spencer A caf\u00e9 that has long served…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,3534,32974,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-187934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-marks-spencer","11":"tag-tiverton","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}