Falmouth Castle Beach cafe's battering by Storm Pierrick

Emily Davidson launched a Crowdfunder back at the beginning of March to raise money to install solar panels on the south facing roof of the Castle Beach Café to try and cu her huge energy bills.

However her dreams were shattered when on Monday the beach was hit by a combination of gale force winds and high tides on Monday evening which caused destruction to the surrounding café area. This included the outdoor seating structure and picnic tables plus the benches along the slipway.

The area around the cafe was wrecked (Image: Paul Armstrong)

Also hit by the storm were beach huts which were dragged into the sea and the dive school whose hut was completely destroyed.

Now Emily says she will have to divert her savings for the solar panels to repairs to the café so the project may take a little longer.

Posting an update on the Crowdfunder page, which is now headed “Castle Beach Café - Storm Recovery & Solar Panels”, Emily said: “Following the destruction to the surrounding café area, including our outdoor seating structure and picnic tables plus the benches along the slipway, we are hoping to raise a few more pennies to cover the cost of repairs.

“I may have to divert some of my savings for the solar panels to these repairs in the immediate instance… this means it will take a little longer to raise the funds for the solar panels.

“Please bear with me as we overcome this latest hurdle!”

Emily launched the Crowdfunder after her electricity bill went up by over five times the amount since she took over in 2021, at £1,700 a month.

The platform at the front of the cafe collapsed (Image: Paul Armstrong)

“This is due to rising energy prices, coupled with the large electrical requirements of catering appliances,” she explained.

She said rather than increase her prices and to secure the future of her business she wants to switch to solar panels on the south facing roof.

She had been quoted a sum of £8,950 for the PV panels to meet half of the required energy load, using the roof space available which she was hoping to raise.

As of this evening she had raised over £3,500 following a slew of donations in the last couple of days following the storm damage.

On Tuesday, Emily was visited by her MP Cherilyn Mackrory who urged people help out and pop down and buy a coffee or contribute to the fundraiser.

Emily was paid a visit by her MP Cherilyn Mackrory (right) following the storm (Image: Cherilyn Mackrory)

Meanwhile Plastic Free Falmouth is holding an emergency clean at Castle Beach today (Thursday) at 3.30pm and has appealed for volunteers to help.

They say while there's been loads of people working hard to clear the area there is still a lot on the left hand side of the beach.

Wood piled up at the east end of the beach (Image: Facebook)

They will be clearing plastic and planks with paint on and assume the tide will bring in more.

You can contribute to Emily's Crowdfunder at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/castle-beach-cafe-needs-solar-panels#start