A CAFE was nominated for Trader of the Week for going the extra mile to deliver meals to the elderly.
Cheryl and Mattie Bone, owners of The Pillar Box Cafe in Haltwhistle, have run the business for 16 years and are celebrating their anniversary on August 18.
The cafe offers sit-in service, takeaway, meal deliveries and catering for events such as providing food for the Haltwhistle Town Twinning visits.
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They were nominated for Trader of the Week by fellow Haltwhistle business, Rise & Shine, which said: "Pillar Box Cafe, Haltwhistle for their lovely personal friendly service for delivering meals to the elderly in their homes, nothing's a problem."
Cheryl said: "We enjoy how the cafe is a hub for people, we have regulars who meet up and we enjoy how our son, Tobin, can come to work with us on Saturdays and through the holidays. He likes sitting with the customers because they treat him like family."
Matt, Cheryl and Tobin will celebrate the businesses' anniversary by holding a raffle and giving cafe vouchers as prizes to thank their loyal customers.
Pillar Box has provided meal deliveries for more than 13 years to people of all ages in the community.
They organise deliveries of fresh and frozen meals six days a week.
"Not everyone's elderly that get meals delivered but 90 per cent of them are. It's nice to know they're getting fed well, a lot of them don't have family. We've been known to get a few shopping items for them, post their letters and things like that. We've done welfare checks before and rang a few ambulances for people," Cheryl said.
Speaking of the Trader nomination, Cheryl said: "It's nice to be appreciated by other businesses, it's a nice community."
Since June, the cafe has provided meals for the monthly lunch club run through the Haltwhistle Partnership.
"It's a community club that takes place the first Thursday of each month. We do dinner, pudding and teas and coffees for them, and they come together and meet up. It's for over-55s who attend. We're trying to get more people to come to that and there's always entertainment on."
Cheryl is also running the Great North Run for the first time next month to support Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team.
Pillar Box is open from Monday to Saturday from 9.30am and closing times vary.
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