A cafe which sits in a Grade-II listed building in Oldham town centre has been recognised for its 'selflessness' in supporting the community.
Bittersweet cafe opened in the Old Town Hall in August 2020 and in just three years, has evolved into supporting Oldhamers struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and a plethora of local charities.
Now, the cafe has been recognised with two impressive accolades at the SME Northern Enterprise Awards.
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It won the 'most community orientated restaurant and cafe 2023 north west' and 'UK SME inclusive hospitality champions'.
Dr Rufzan Bibi, who runs the community-driven cafe, said the team is driven to "inspire everyone around us" and the awards stand "testament to the management team who work tirelessly to support people and the community we serve".
Dr Bibi continued: "Currently, whilst we are all undergoing a very testing time with the cost of living crisis, we are still fighting to keep jobs going so our employees can feed and look after their families.
"We support several local charities and not-for-profit entities and ultimately have faith that happiness comes from giving, not taking."
Over the last 12 months, the cafe has supported organisations from police community clubs, Ambition Oldham and Tameside, St Matthew's Church to several primary and secondary schools and grassroots football clubs.
The team have awarded the groups with prizes, gifts, discounts and work experience.
Dr Bibi, who is also an accomplished research scientist, lawyer and entrepreneur, recently represented female business leaders on a panel alongside the Greater Manchester Business Growth Hub.
The hub brought together current and future female leaders and founders from across Oldham for a match event at Oldham Athletic Football Club to network and discuss.
She attended to raise awareness of women in black, Asian and ethnic minority communities who are "sometimes stigmatised" and may not be the sole income earner of their household.
Several new start-ups created by women entrepreneurs have been supported by Bittersweet as the cafe instils a "shop local" principle, working with these individuals to supply and promote their products and goods in-store.
In the medical field, Dr Bibi worked at St Mary's Hospital on cervical cancer and studied and worked in the niche area of appendiceal cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research.
Her research has been published in several studies and her research has been presented internationally by the Royal College of Surgeons.
Remarkably, she completed her legal practice course at law school while working as a scientist and opened a law firm, Amin Haque Solicitors in 2018.
Reacting to the cafe's awards, the inspirational mother-of-three said: "We believe in empowering communities through support and engagement.
"We do lots of work with the third sector and we regularly work with secondary schools, colleges and universities to offer work placements and experiences.
"Every year, we have two to three students join us to understand what we do as a business and where we fit into the local community.
"To have won these awards is a testament to the hard work from everyone in the team.
"We are really proud of the achievement and hope to continue supporting the community."
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