The Award-winning social enterprise A Great Little Place is opening a new café in The Atkinson.



From September A Great Little Place, run by Autism Initiatives, will take pride of place in its new home in the Lord Street venue that welcomes 500,000 visitors a year to its Museum, Galleries, Library, Theatre and Shop.

For The Atkinson it will mean working with an established local brand that is known for its high quality and value for money. We are able to work with A Great Little Place to maximise the programme with pre-show meals, themed events, festival food and more.

The two organisations have shared values and vision. They will be an extension of The Atkinson family and together we will be able to provide the best in quality to visitors.

Sue Yarnell, Manager of A Great Little Place said:



“We’ve steadily been growing our reputation and customers from our first café in 2010, so moving to such a central and historic location is a fantastic development. It will provide even more opportunities for the people with autism we support in work placements.”

Emma Anderson, Director The Atkinson said: This is a really exciting partnership between two organisations who have a track record in working to improve lives in Sefton. A Great Little Place has a fantastic reputation and we are delighted to have them as part of our offer. They will be a massive asset to our visitors and will mean we can offer the very best food and beverage experience for day visitors, as well as increasing our capacity for pre-show meals and corporate events.”



This partnership is about more than just a café – its also about working together to improve the lives of people with autism and their families and by having the organisations together , new opportunities for training, work experience and training are going to be explored.

A Great Little Place will relinquish its lease on Houghton Street and staff will be relocated to the new town centre venue.

On Saturday 30 September at a special Coast themed Family Fun Day the actor, writer and producer Henry Normal (The Atkinson’s new patron) will officially open the cafe and the new Museum corridor that brings the story of the coast and all its creatures to life.

Keep an eye out in local press and online at theatkinson.co.uk or agreatlittleplace.org for more information on the new partnership and the opening event

Great news, it's a good cafe and The Atkinson is a great location (would be better if they could open the frontage of the cafe section up more so that people know it's there).

I hope this isn't replacing the existing Atkinson bakery café (and its hardworking staff).

Originally Posted by dav

I hope this isn't replacing the existing Atkinson bakery café (and its hardworking staff).

I take it you are joking? The bakery closed down ages ago. The cafe that is there at the moment is awful - cheap bought in cakes, the coffee machine is out of order, the staff look like they don't want to be there. Last time I went in there was a sign saying no hot food or sandwiches, which doesn't leave much!