IT IS HOPED that a cafe, run one day a week by volunteers in recovery from drugs and alcohol at a Musselburgh church, could eventually open for business in its own premises.

At the moment, the Starfish Cafe opens to the public every Wednesday at the Hope Church, near The Brunton, serving snacks, cakes, biscuits, teas, coffees, soup and a main meal.

Alex Johnson, a recovery development coordinator with Mid and East Lothian Drugs, said: “The big dream is to have premises of our own, run as a cafe that employs people and is open most days of the week. That’s the long-term plan.”

He said that the cafe, the first of its kind in East Lothian, which celebrated its first anniversary at the beginning of the year, was proving a success.

The facility was started by Starfish Recovery, a registered charity based in Dalkeith which has another cafe in Edinburgh.

“The purpose of it is to provide a supportive community for people in recovery from drugs and alcohol,” said Mr Johnson.

“We are trying to create a place where people in recovery can be involved in something that is theirs, that they run. So the trustees and volunteers are mostly in recovery. They can take the lead. so it’s not always about professionals providing support, but people supporting one another.”

He added: “People can come and just enjoy the cafe but can also get involved. It helps in different ways such as giving structure to the day and having contact with people, with similar experiences, who know where you’re coming from. It involves building skills with training, for example, in health and hygiene. This improves employability and helps people move on to the next stage of their lives.”

The cafe would welcome more volunteers as Mr Johnson explained: “If we get a sudden flood of volunteers we could open more than one day.”

The cafe is open on Wednesdays at 10am-2pm

Mr Johnson said: “The cafe is quite cheap because we are just aiming to cover costs for the most part and not really aiming to make a profit.”

Anyone interested in the venture should pop into the cafe on a Wednesday.