Sappho's Cafe CIC

29/03/2026

Such a fab night with Maureen’s Alternative Comedy!

Keep your peepers peeled for more open mics and standup galore in our cute lil community cafe 💖

Thank you all for coming to Maureen's first ever open mic! Thank you as well to the excellent comics and to Sappho's Cafe CIC for allowing us to use their amazing community space.
Don't forget the next Maureen's is our Feminist special at Union Corner on April 25th. See you there!

13/03/2026

Your local q***r-run community cafe needs you!

Fill out this Google Form to be signed up to our volunteer roster.

Whether you want to help make drinks, run drinks, design drinks, design posters, create copy for social media posts, or just get creative where we need support, there's lots of opportunity here at Sappho's!

We'd love you to volunteer alongside our amazing team to ensure the city continues to offer this vital community venue. Volunteering can be great for the mind and soul, especially when done on your own terms. If you're unsure, you can always give it a go with no commitment to volunteer regularly, just whenever works for you.

Know someone who has an hour or two free and wants to support our community? Send them this link!

We can't wait to hear from you!

We've been blown away by the offers of support we've received to volunteer with Sappho's! Below, you can share details with us. To make things easier on our small team, we've added some specific roles that we need to support the space for now, but please do let us know if you'd like to do something....

13/03/2026

You might have noticed that our last post there was lifted from our first Substack post.

Here's another post to help you get to know staff at your new fave cafe and community space....but you have to visit the actual Substack page to read this one! Please give us a follow whilst you're there 🌀

A q***r-run community cafe in Bretonside, Plymouth. Click to read Sappho's Cafe CIC on Substack. Launched 2 months ago.

13/03/2026

Welcome to the Sappho's Cafe & Community Space page!

We really appreciate all the follows, and the love that's been shown to this q***r-run community cafe so far. We're hoping people will share the page with others who they think might want to support this unique spot for the city.

In case some of you are brand new to Sappho's, here's an FAQ for our CIC (Community Interest Company) that answers some of our more common Qs.

Where did the name 'Sappho's' come from?

Q***r District Collective co-founder Rhys Morgan suggested the name, and it just made sense. 'Saff's Cafe' was another thought (think Absolutely Fabulous, or a shortening of Sappho's), but we loved how the name we landed on made a nice tribute to so many people in our city. It not only references Plymouth's flourishing poetry and writing community, but it's a nod to the le****ns who are always making things happen at the grassroots and beyond. It's often forgotten by some that it was le****ns who stepped up to care for q***r people dying of AIDS when they had no one else, organising blood drives and handling their estates when they passed on - famously leading to their honour via the rearrangement of the community acronym GLBT to LGBT.

So this is a cafe for le****ns?

Sappho's is for everyone - LGBTQIA+ and allied people. It's q***r-run and set up with the community in mind, but we simply want this to be a space where people can just be amongst other humans, no matter how they identify.

What type of food will the cafe serve?

A rotating 'Soup of the Gay' menu alongside sweet bakes and snacks from local suppliers. We will cater to most dietary needs, with gluten-free and vegan options.

Who's the coffee supplier?

We're proud to be serving Sanctuary Coffee. Our values align deeply, and the feedback we've received from people sampling the goods at our Warm & Welcome spaces events and in our first month of trade has been nothing but positive. We are looking to create a sanctuary of sorts at Sappho's, after all.

Are dogs welcome?

You bet! Just keep them leashed whilst inside or in our outdoor seating area.

Can I volunteer?

Sappho's is a Community Interest Company and will rely on volunteers to run the space and ensure our initial financial viability. Volunteering can lead to paid work (and is actually fantastic for the soul when done on your own terms), and we're already in early discussions with the local job centre to develop employment pathways via our space too. Check the pinned post for the sign up form to volunteer.

How else can I help?

Be sure to subscribe to our page for more from your new fave cafe and community space! Sappho's is the culmination of over a decade of community development work. Hospitality is incredibly challenging for most at the moment. But q***r spaces are needed more than ever particularly in Plymouth.

We've already got lots of exciting bookings in the diary for the year ahead. We can't wait to share what we've got in store for you all!