A VOLUNTEER community café in Acomb has had to close, because the people behind it could not find staff to take over the venture.

A notice has gone up at the café in the Gateway centre on Front Street, explaining that it will not be able to function any longer, but pleading with customers not to turn their backs on Acomb but to support local businesses in the neighbourhood instead.

The message says the Gateway Café will not be opening again “in the near future”. It closed in December but at the time the intention was to re-open again as soon as possible.

However, the note explains that staff members who had led the team of volunteers running the café had moved on to new jobs, and efforts to find replacements to take over the cafe had come to nothing.

It says: “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we have not been able to find the right staff to take the café forward and so we have reluctantly taken the decision to put our plans on hold for the time being.”

However, the Gateway Centre will still run as a “thriving community hub” running all the same services and activities as before - including toddler and baby groups, a drop-in café for the over-60s, debt advice, the foodbank and a variety of counselling services.

Organisers thanked customers for their loyalty and support for the Gateway Café, and urged local people to keep using Acomb as a place to meet friends and socialise, and to support the area’s cafes and local businesses instead “to keep the community thriving and alive.”

The centre is run by the Gateway Church, which uses it for its Sunday meetings as well as opening it as a community hub.