WITH voting for The Northern Echo’s Best Coffee Shop now well and truly open, your favourite needs your support!

Every day over the next ten days, we will be featuring one of our top ten finalists, chosen by our readers.

Today we hear from Phil Crosby, who runs the Vineyard Cafe in Post House Wynd, Darlington.

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Phil and his wife Lisa moved to Darlington in 2019 when they set up the Vineyard Church, based in Salt Yard, Darlington, and the cafe followed in May 2021.

Phil said: “My wife and I had just returned from working in South East Asia as missionaries, and we set up the church initially in our lounge.

“We also wanted to do something in the pandemic to support the local economy, and people working from home. So we raised funds through the church and opened the cafe in May 2021. We ran it for about five months, trying to get it off the ground.

“At that point in the pandemic, people were still nervous about getting out, but also were working from home and wanted to get out. We installed lots of plug points so people could have their own space and feel secure.

“Our coffee is from a roastery in Cardiff, who make sure their beans are sourced ethical origins, where workers are safe from the sex trafficking trade.

“It’s a cause close to my wife’s heart as it was something we encountered a lot in south East Asia.

“We also use lots of local suppliers such as Acorn Dairy for our milk.”

After the cafe proved to be a huge hit, the couple were able to take on cafe manager Jonny Hoggett to take over the day-to-day running.

Phil said: “Everyone else who works there is a volunteer, and we employ a lot of people who have been struggling to find employment so they can get their barista qualifications and move on to work for one of the bigger coffee chains.

“The profits from the cafe go towards supporting a baby bank we run in partnership with Morrisons, called Grow Baby Darlington, and we work with midwives and social care teams to help support young families in the town.”

Phil added: “We love working and living in Darlington – it’s a great town and we’re also thankful to have been nominated by our customers!”