A café that provides work for people with disabilities has announced it will close in the autumn.
The Rumbles Café, based at Sutton Lawn in Sutton-in-Ashfield, is set to close its doors after serving the community for 18 years.
Rumbles offers a catering and life skills training programme for people with learning disabilities, providing paid placements for schools, colleges, and individuals.
Back in July 2023, the café said it was facing financial problems which, at the time, included plans by Ashfield District Council to change its annual rent from a nominal £50 to a reduced commercial rate of £7,000.
Campaigners later said, in August 2023, that the café was served with a new lease which would see it paying £10,000 a year in rent, an increase of 19,000 per cent on what it was originally being charged.
The authority also wanted the café to take on the running of an on-site public toilet and, at the time, almost 5,000 people signed a petition calling on the council not to evict the café.
However, the café’s closure announcement says, with “deep regret”, that it has made the “incredibly difficult” decision to close, with this being “forced by an ongoing dispute with Ashfield District Council, alongside the severe financial strain it has placed on the site”.
It continued: “Additionally, historical management decisions have further contributed to the site’s current unsustainable position. Despite the best efforts of our current team to navigate these challenges, the financial impact has left the board with no viable alternative but to close the facility.
“We understand this news will be disappointing to the many people who visit and rely on the café.
“The board of trustees, the charity manager, and all of the staff at Rumbles would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the public, our loyal customers, and the local community for your immense support over the years.”
Back in 2023, council leader Jason Zadrozny (Ashfield Ind) said the café was still being offered a reduced rent, but the authority wanted it to “pay their own utilities and cleaning bills”.
He said: “In this day and age, I think that’s fair. They’re a business, they make a profit, and the council can’t continue to subsidise them.”
The café says the closure will be effective from 31 October 2026, with its on-site kitchen ceasing operations on 24 July.
A spokesperson for Ashfield District Council said in a statement: “The Council has been engaged in constructive discussions with the trustees of Rumbles Café for some time, both the new trustees and the former ones.
“Other than their posts on social media, we have had no formal notification from the café of their intentions.
“However, should the current occupants choose to leave, we have already been contacted by other organisations that are interested in running this important facility in one of our much-loved parks.”
By Lauren Monaghan, Local Democracy Reporter