-By Ffion Harris

A Swansea street food cafe has started a campaign to raise funds after being badly hit by Covid.

Steve Herbert and his daughter Georgia opened Maisies in Uplands, Swansea not long before Covid 19 struck. Since its opening Maisie’s has never been properly able to land on its feet.

Steve said “I gave my daughter the money to open Maisie’s and it’s her absolute dream and passion. We’ve had one disaster after another, and it’s been awful to see the business struggling as much as it is.

“We are looking at building an outdoor extension which will make customers feel a lot safer when dining. It will also allow Maisie’s to go from a 42-seat capacity to 120 seats, which means we will be able to seat a lot more customers and there will a lot more space and airflow. It’s difficult to get the balance between the right amount of airflow and not being freezing. Hopefully the new garden will be able to help.

Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, the business has struggled with the finances. Steve said “We didn’t furlough any of our staff or reduce their pay during Covid. We looked after our staff and now we just can’t afford the business.

“We had over 100 cancellations the weekend of New Year’s. We also had to close mid service on New Year’s Eve because we were understaffed and one of the staff who were working tested positive mid-shift.”

Maisie’s has now introduced a new menu including items from Steve’s former business The Crepe Vine.

“The new menu definitely gained attention of customers but we’re still struggling.”

Steve and Georgia have created a GoFundMe fundraiser to help with the financial costs of the café. The fundraiser is currently at £1000 bur

“We are hoping that the GoFundMe gets a lot of attention, and we can raise the money that we need. It will help the business grow to where we want it and will also help to pay off all our finances.”

The GoFundMe is here

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