Honiton roadside cafe Brightside to reward 'Local Heroes'

Brightside has roadside cafes near Exeter, Honiton and Saltash, and all three are taking part in the ‘Local Heroes’ project.

The first vouchers were given out at a party held on Saturday, February 24 to celebrate the first anniversary of the Exeter branch’s opening.

The Honiton branch’s chosen charity was South West Blood Bikes, and its chair and trustee, Cllr Mark J Bentley MIAM, attended the party to receive the voucher.

He said: "Thanks also for the £250 voucher, and indeed the further £55 raised on the evening itself. 

“As we have no paid staff, and make no charge for our services, every penny of this will go directly towards providing our free service to the NHS and hospices in Devon, helping to save lives, improve patient outcomes, and saving these establishments money which can instead be spent where it should be – on patient care. 

“Please accept our best wishes for many more years of successful trading!"

The other two voucher recipients were Shared Lives and St Cleer Youth Football Club.

From now on the teams at each Brightside diner will nominate a local charity or community group to receive a £250 voucher, to use as they wish, every month. Customers will be invited to suggest local worthy causes, and these will be voted upon to find the winner.

Charlie Jones, Operations Manager, Brightside said: “We’re passionate about community and playing our part, so as a way of highlighting and championing those doing such great work in the area, we’ve launched Brightside Local Heroes as a way of giving back.”

Brightside was launched by the national all-day café/bar operator Loungers plc with the aim of ‘injecting the excitement and fun back into travel and reinvigorating UK roadside dining in the process’. Brightside Exeter opened on Haldon Hill on February 10 2023, followed by Brightside Saltash on the A38 in June 2023 and Brightside Honiton on the A303 in August 2023.