Kate May, who runs the Mystic Coffee Lounge in Cosham, has started the Cosham High Street Businesses group on Facebook as she said more needs to be done to promote the area.
Kate opened her cafe, which also operates as a shop for all things mystical, in 2018.
As well as serving teas, coffees, lunches, breakfasts and snacks, and selling crystals, tarot cards and other goods, it also acts as a base for her to carry out psychic readings, training courses and holistic therapies.
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The cafe has grown in popularity over the years and now acts as a community hub for her regular customers.
Kate, 46, said: ‘We have people coming in who have been on their own throughout lockdown and they just want to talk. It’s very important to provide a space for people to be able to do that.’
However Kate said that lockdown has also hit businesses, such as hers and the others in Cosham, hard and she wants to promote more of a community in the area.
She said: ‘Because of all the lockdowns, everything is going online. We need some form of community as there are so many people who can’t or don’t want to go online. It’s important that we don’t lose these places by not using them.
‘There’s nothing better for people than meeting up face to face.’
Kate said it’s not just elderly people who benefit.
She added: ‘We also see a lot of school children in the shop, and it’s important for them to have these social interactions. It is lovely to see them and to see them testing things out, you can’t do that online, you can’t touch and you don’t get that tactile experience.’
Kate, a mum of two boys, said she hopes that her group will bring a community to the high street.
She said: ‘There are so many buy and sell groups which are great but I wanted something specifically for the shops. I want to tell people about things like the shops, when there are markets, if there are meetings, things that will boost the high street and boost business after the lockdowns.
‘Please come into the coffee lounge and join the Facebook group to help and support all of our Cosham high street businesses.’
Kate, who lives in Cosham, started her psychic readings when she was a teenager, inspired by well known local medium.
While on maternity leave from her job as a shop manager, she honed her skills, and eventually set up her physic reading business.
As this grew, she decided to open her Cosham cafe to accommodate her readings, as well as those of her husband, who she met through events six years ago.
To join the Cosham High Street Businesses group go to facebook.com/groups/371445217264852
For more on Kate’s cafe go to facebook.com/mysticcoffeelounge