A NEW coffee bar, ‘Wye’d Awake’ has opened its doors in Monmouth as part of a diversification project to protect the surrounding natural environment.

The coffee bar opened on August 9, next to Monmouth Rowing Club by Louise Hart, who has a close connection to Monmouth due to her background in sport including rowing and cycling.

Wye’d Awake is a takeaway coffee bar, open on Friday to Sunday from 8am until 2pm with public seating available by the river.

The local entrepreneur is the third in a generation of female-led farmers who grew up on a small sheep farm, but one of the ways she has diversified has been by opening the coffee bar.

Not only is the coffee bar bringing footfall to another scenic area in Monmouth, but it’s keeping the environment eco-friendly by using compostable cups, local suppliers and top ingredients to deliver quality products including homemade, seasonal cakes.

“Farming is integral to the area around here, and especially when you go further into Wales, the farms get smaller,” said Louise.

One area of concern within the farming community is that of mental health, potentially driven by a range of factors including: financial stress, isolation or even unpredictable weather. Diversification projects such as participating in other jobs can help stream another source of income to support them.

“It is significant in the farming community, and it's important that charities like We are Farming Minds exist.

“Farming is a lonely business and because of the farming we are in and the family nature, we can see each other all the time but if you’re sitting on a tractor all day long you might not see someone for hours.

“There is no switch off from farming; you have to make it work at all sorts of times in the day. I couldn’t imagine the farm not being a big part of life.”

While running the coffee bar Louise also runs several community groups, including a mum and baby group, dad and baby group and she is hoping to start a cycling group and a networking group specifically for women in the future.

Amy Fulcher, a participant of the mother and baby group, said: “It’s lovely to have the opportunity to have a meeting point down by the river that we can go to.

“We have been meeting every week, and it’s become a great part of our routine.

“All of us have met at local community groups and it’s having something like this which is a weekly thing we can all attend. Having children is wonderful but it can be overwhelming and exhausting at times.”

Another spokesperson from the group said: “It gets me out in the morning on a Friday, and it’s nice to meet other mums who are at the same stage of life as you.

“You get to have a coffee and cake and it’s wonderful chatting and walking whilst being good for the kids to get outside in fresh air.”