Cats have brought me so much joy and helped me heal - I want to open a cat café in Portsmouth so it can help others
A Portsmouth woman is hoping to bring the joy of cats to the city as she starts a crowd funder to open a cat café.
Clare Poole, 44, of Copnor, credits her two cats in helping her move forwards after an auto-immune disease left her bed-bound and in agony. She now wants to combine her passion for food and cats by opening a cat café in the city.
Despite being fit and healthy, a bout of Covid in October 2023 saw her rushed to hospital as it attacked her lungs. As the Covid subsided, the pain in her muscles remained and she was diagnosed with Dermatomyositis, a rare disease that causes muscle weakness.
Clare said: “With my condition I couldn't get out of bed, my muscles were inflamed. I spent four months feeling really sorry for myself and started to look for something that would motivate me to get out of bed. I bought two cats, and they brought me out of a really awful situation.
“I had that motivation to get out of bed and look after them and it help me start to get myself together. I thank them, and my kids, everyday for pushing me on to get better. They got us through.”
Having studied nutrition in the past, as well as a natural chef course, Clare has always had a passion for cooking and baking. Then a fortuitous discovery on a family holiday to France saw them stumble upon a cat café. After returning home they saw the nearest cat café to them was in Romsey, that was when she saw there was an opportunity to combine her two passions.
She said: “I just thought it would be a lovely combination to bring to the community. They healed me so much, it would be lovely to see other people that are on the same journey with health conditions benefit from it. Cats bring so much joy, they brought so much joy to me and they nurtured me in my healing process, I’m hoping it can do the same for other people.”
Clare started to look for premises available in Southsea and spoke to banks about loans, but being out of work it proved tricky. She discovered the crowd funding option after a friend told her about a similar venture in London, with Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium started over a decade ago via an Indiegogo campaign.
She has set a target of £50,000 with supporters getting perks for supporting the campaign. There are a number of perks available, from tea, cake, and an hour of cat time for £15, to sponsoring a cat for a year for £500.
For those unaware of a concept of a cat café, they house cats that live on the premises which are sponsored by people. Cats are then able to wander round the front of the shop for customers to spend time with and the cooking areas are kept completely separate for hygiene reasons.
Clare wants to open the shop in six months and wants to use it as a chance to help people that have gone through a similar situation. She said: “When it is up and running I would really love to help other people with disabilities that they could come in and work with the animals and be given training.
“It would be a lovely environment for people that have struggled to get work with certain disabilities and I would love to help people in that situation.”
Further details on the crowd funding campaign, including how to support it, can be found at: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/opening-of-a-cat-cafe-in-portsmouth#/