An afternoon tea, chat and a weekly quiz for the ME Association in a gorgeous coffee shop in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, has given Louise Gatfield a new lease on life.
“I had to leave my teaching career of 25 years after going down with M.E. and it was very tough at first”, she told us.
“Unfortunately, some of my old friends disappeared. They either thought I was making my illness up or they just didn’t understand. I really needed to meet people who understood the illness and there’s no support group near me in Wakefield.”
Luckily, she had means at her disposal to do something about it.
Her husband, Richard, runs a small independent coffee shop in the cathedral city. The shop called ‘Rich and Fancy’ is in Queen Street, Horbury, and the couple decided to run a weekly quiz there on Thursday afternoons, between 2 and 3pm.
Louise also started inviting people taking part to make a small donation to the MEA.
“I just go along for an hour to do my quiz and the people there are really enjoying meeting one another. I’m now hoping we can arrange an art get-together on an evening.
“Step by step, I am finally managing to socialise a little and tackle the anxiety I suffered after I first became ill. It helps me a lot to host these things. I would at another point, when established, love to talk to you about the art group.”
We wish you well, Louise, and loads more enjoyment in life. If ever we get to Wakefield, we’ll make a point of looking in on ‘Rich and Fancy’ for a cuppa.
The coffee shop has its own website and Richard also runs its Facebook and Instagram pages.
