Owner of play centre 'decimated' by lockdown vows to keep business alive

Former teacher Wendy Unsworth has owned Pipsqueaks Play Cafe in Orrell for the last eight years. It has been a popular business in the area but has suffered greatly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Soft play centres were one of the last types of business allowed to reopen as part of the transition out of lockdown, and there has been a huge national campaign to prevent play centres from going out of business.

But 43-year-old Wendy had her own ideas for keeping Pipsqueaks afloat, adapting the business to allow it to reopen without the reliance of the play areas.

“At the end of July, I decided to open Pips as a cafe, and was delighted that Wigan Council’s Environmental Health Officers allowed me to do so,” she said.

“I closed off the soft play temporarily to try to get some staff back to work, and begin the road to recovery.

“During August, the cafe held some sessions for new reception cohorts at schools from Orrell, Ashton, Shevington, Standish and Wigan town centre.

“The idea was to ease parents’ worries due to the lack of transition sessions in schools before the summer term. As a former teacher myself, and a parent, I could empathise with how parents were feeling.

“Parents were really appreciative of what we did, especially when we moved the sessions outside when Wigan was part of the Greater Manchester lockdown - all the children who came made the same teddy bear as their classmates and each had a rainbow t -shirt to symbolise these strange times.

“We lost a lot of money because parents weren’t coming into the cafe to spend with us, through no fault of their own but we still went ahead with the sessions, making just £2 per teddy bear because we knew how important it was to the families.

“A number of local schools found out about the sessions and the reception teachers were able to come along which was fantastic for the parents and children.”

But Wendy and her team at Pipsqueaks weren’t just looking after themselves. In fact, they took an opportunity to support other struggling local groups and charities.

Usborne Books were given space to set up their stand for free in the cafe during the school sessions, allowing them to sell lots of back to school packs.

They also backed a local pottery painting business, Kraftys, that had to shut its cafe because of Covid, providing a free space for them to use and we in turn benefited from the food and beverage spend.

They even held two “pup cafes” which gave local business Terrier Treats an opportunity to raise awareness of her business and sell her products.

Wendy said: “Our cafe is now a permanent fixture and permanently dog friendly.

“We have had people visiting from around the Wigan area with their dogs and we have identified a gap in the market.

“We are close to Dean Wood and have lots of free parking so we are ideal after a dog walk. We have even had families painting pottery and bringing their dogs along!”

The play area has now reopened, allowing Pipsqueaks to get back to what they have been doing for the best part of a decade.

“We opened the soft play on Thursday and it coincided with a Macmillan coffee morning that our cook Michelle Davies had organised,” said Wendy. “I decided after five months shut as soft play, what was another day without entry fees?

“So I donated all the entries from opening day to the Macmillan fund. We raised over £300 on the day through entries and cake sales.

“We have long supported The Brick and been a collection point - we used to offer free entry and going forward, we are going to offer 50 per cent off meals on a Wednesday for customers who bring a food donation for the Brick.”

Wendy added: “Our recovery is going to be difficult and I am unsure at this point if the business is sustainable.

“However, by adapting and diversifying, I hope to be giving Pips the best chance I possibly can. As a single mum of two children and two dogs, it is more than a full time job and the business is like my fifth baby - I can’t let it fail without a fight.”