The 'Alice In Wonderland' themed grand opening of 'The Place To Bee' retro cafe and sweet shop in Kingsthorpe on Thursday, September 16 2021.The 'Alice In Wonderland' themed grand opening of 'The Place To Bee' retro cafe and sweet shop in Kingsthorpe on Thursday, September 16 2021.
The 'Alice In Wonderland' themed grand opening of 'The Place To Bee' retro cafe and sweet shop in Kingsthorpe on Thursday, September 16 2021.

Retro cafe officially opens in Kingsthorpe with 'Alice in Wonderland' themed afternoon teas and entertainment

'The Place To Bee' cafe and sweet shop offers young adults with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities to get hands-on experience in hospitality and living independently

A retro cafe and sweet shop that supports young adults with learning disabilities had their official grand opening in Kingsthorpe yesterday (September 16).

'The Place To Bee' opened for takeaway services to the public in April earlier this year but, on Thursday this week, hosted an exclusive Alice In Wonderland themed ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially launch their new venture.

The site, which has two floors, is equipped for vocational training in retail and hospitality and the upper floor is a fully functioning life skills flat where young adults with learning disabilities can learn basic skills like cooking, washing clothes and making a bed.

The Place To Bee was the brainchild of Head teacher at Northgate School Arts College, Shez Webb. She said: "We are celebrating the great opening of 'The Place To Bee'. This is an amalgamation of our 'Sweet Bee' sweet shop we used to have on Kingsthorpe High Street and our little coffee shop but the bigger premises means that we are able to have a life skills flat upstairs where we can teach our young people independent skills and supported living to help them develop not only their employability skills but also their life skills.

"The idea today is to just celebrate the fact that it has been a long journey with Covid and it has been a while but we just thought it was worth saying a huge thank you to everyone who has helped us and also to showcase what we do and what we are going forward with."

To mark the official opening of The Place To Bee, the staff prepared some scrumptious 'Alice In Wonderland' themed afternoon teas including sausage rolls, sandwiches, tarts, cupcakes, scones, quiche and various other freshly baked goods. They decorated the entire cafe to match the theme and even dressed for the part!

Special guests were then treated to singing and dance performances from the pupils of the Born To Perform Dance School, who dazzled onlookers with their talents and got guests singing along to 'Mamma Mia' by Abba, 'Levitating' by Dua Lipa and 'Car Wash' by Christina Aguilera featuring Missy Elliott.

The team at The Place To Bee have local charity, The Goed Life, to thank for the fundraising muscle they were able to lend to this project to transform it from a vision to reality.

Here are some pictures of 'The Place To Bee' during their 'Alice In Wonderland' themed launch:

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