An award-winning café for dogs in Sunderland are aiming to bring the canine community together through a range of upcoming events.
The Doggie Diner franchise – with branches in Sunderland, Durham and Hartlepool – is popular with many dog owners in and around the North East. A recent customer was Frank the bulldog, who is the star pooch in Legally Blonde: The Musical. He enjoyed a pamper of afternoon tea with served with pawsecco.
After the success of a charity coffee morning in April, owner Gill Gibson has plans for more events to raise money and to bring the community together. The diner raised £20 for local charity Friends of Fullwell, who aim to provide support for local people in the Fullwell ward and raise aspirations.
Gill said: “We’ve got the coffee morning every four weeks now, just to see if we can get more people from the local area to come in. Plus, its benefiting the local area because 15 per cent of the days takings is going to the charity which is Friends of Fullwell.”
The Sea Road diner aims to bring together dogs and their owners in an array of activities, which include a fortnightly knit and natter, puppy socialisations, build a puppy event for children and ceramic paw printing.
The dog-loving cafe, which is soon to have its third birthday, is also set to take part in various events outside of the diner to support local charities. These events will include The Great North Dog Walk and the armed forces weekend on the seafront.
The franchise, which has plans to welcome diner number four in Teesside, are supporters of Stray Aid and are set to host another Adopt A Dog event in July.
Gill, who recently acquired the diner in January, said: “It was UK Coffee Week last week, so we donated 10% of all our takings to Stray Aid. We chose Stray Aid because they run out of blankets and food in the cold weather, so we support that local charity on a regular basis.”
The well-known diner is inviting pooches and their owners to dress up for the Royal Wedding in May and are hosting a pirate party for the Tall Ships event in the summer.
Gill states that the diner is a place for the dogs to be the VIPs: “It’s lovely to have somewhere you can take the dogs to accept as a VIP rather than told to sit on the floor and behave themselves.”
Visit the Sunderland branch at 41 Sea Road, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR6 9BS or visit the website at www.doggiediner.co.uk