'Best British Restaurant' award for Harrogate mission couple

The Restaurant at Neema Crafts Centre in Tanzania, which was set up by Harrogate couple, Susie and Andy Hart, with the support of local churches, has been announced as the surprise winner of a competition held by the Telegraph newspaper to find the best British-run restaurant in the world. The Neema Crafts restaurant, which won the paper's ‘Best of British’ competition is run entirely by deaf people.

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“It’s been a massive boost to the morale of all the deaf staff here”, says Susie, “ and they are all incredibly proud to have received such support from all the people around the world who’ve visited the centre and voted for them. They all had mile-wide smiles when I told them the news!” 

Neema Crafts Centre provides handicrafts training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities in Iringa, Tanzania. Susie and Andy went to Tanzania 7 years ago as a CMS mission partners, working with the local church as part of their practical outreach to the local community. They started the centre on a budget of just £400, teaching three young deaf lads how to make hand-made paper from elephant dung.

Six years on, the centre now provides training and employment for over one hundred people with a wide range of disabilities, who’ve been trained in a dizzying array of different handicrafts. There’s also a physiotherapy unit for disabled children, and a  restaurant entirely staffed by deaf people.

Susie explains, “ People with disabilities have an extremely rough time here in Tanzania, and are amongst the poorest of the poor, due to the stigma attached to having a disability in this culture. That’s why we started Neema Crafts Centre, to give them skills, dignity and hope for their futures.”

To help support the cost of running this much-needed service in the long-term, Susie and Andy are currently fundraising to build a 10 bedroom guest house on the top floor of the centre. It will be the first of it’s kind in Africa, being  entirely run by people with disabilities, and in particular will provide much-needed employment opportunities for more young deaf people.

More on the Best of British competition

To find out more visit the Neema  website, www.neemacrafts.com .