Chocolate & Co

15/09/2026

Well… it’s happened again. ❤️
A few weeks ago, we found an envelope left outside the café with a little message for someone who might need cheering up.

Today, we found another one - this time left on one of our brand-new planters. 🥹

Whoever you are, thank you. ❤️ It has blessed someone who needs to buy some basic food provisions.

Yesterday our little corner of The Groves was full of people getting stuck in together, helping us install the new planters, chatting, laughing and making our street look that little bit lovelier.

Then today, one of those very planters becomes the place where a stranger quietly leaves something to tell another stranger you matter.

This is community.

We talk a lot at Chocolate & Co about dignity, belonging and purpose. But underneath all of it, perhaps it really does come down to something very simple:
Be kind. You never know how much somebody might need it that day. ❤️

We bloody love The Groves. 🥰

14/09/2026

People coming together, giving up their time and getting stuck in to make our street that little bit brighter. 🌱🪴
Community spirit at its very best. ❤️

13/09/2026

🏃‍♂️ David’s running the Great North Run for Chocolate & Co today!

David is now ready and primed with his running shoes on, along with Shaun and Lee from Bridge Employment Law, to raise money for Chocolate & Co! Impressive hey!! We, of course are cheering them on all the way, sat on our sofas with a nice hot chocolate in our hands ☕😀

Every pound they raise helps us continue creating opportunities, offering support and providing a place where people can find purpose, belonging and a chance to move forward. So, we're giving the three of them a Chocolate & Co shout-out! 📣

If you can spare a few pounds to sponsor David, we’d absolutely love to give his fundraising a boost while he does all the running 👏💷

And if you are feeling inspired…we’d absolutely love to hear from you. If you fancy taking on a challenge, organising an event, or doing a little fundraising of your own for Chocolate & Co, just drop us a message and we can have a chat about getting involved.

Sponsor David here 👇

https://www.justgiving.com/page/david-runs-for-chocolateandco?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=chatgpt.com

Help lisa kerry raise money to support Chocolate & Co

12/09/2026

THREE YEARS. ❤️🎂
Three years ago today, we opened the doors of Chocolate & Co.

We knew what we hoped it might become.
A café, yes.
But also somewhere people could find a bit of purpose, a bit of confidence, a place to belong. And sometimes simply somewhere to come in, sit down and be treated with kindness.

What we couldn't possibly have known was just how much would happen inside these four walls over the next three years.

There have been first days and last days. New jobs. New homes. Qualifications. Difficult days. Brilliant days. Tears. An awful lot of laughter. Thousands of coffees. Even more washing up. A little bit of chaos. 😂

We've watched people walk through our doors unsure of themselves and, little by little, begin to see what everyone around them could already see.

And somewhere along the way, this little café became a community.

None of it happens without our team, our volunteers, our customers, the organisations and businesses who support us, the people who Pay It Forward, AND, most importantly, the people who have trusted us enough to let us walk alongside them for part of their story.

So today we're not asking you for anything.

We're just stopping for a moment to say...
Happy 3rd Birthday, Chocolate & Co. 🥹❤️

Here's to year four. ☕️❤️

11/09/2026

Well... This happened.... 😂❤️

When the owner of a York café you've quietly admired for years walks through your door, you attempt to be normal about it. We would say we succeeded.

Then he sent us THIS afterwards, and all dignity was lost. 😭

For the record: there may have been a small amount of squealing. We'd like to say it was Linda. We cannot confirm it was Linda. 😂

We've been fans of The Pig and Pastry for a long time - what they've built on Bishy Road speaks for itself - so hearing something that kind about our little spot in The Groves…

Also, timing-wise: we are currently in the middle of a deeply subtle, extremely low-key campaign for your votes in the YorkMix Choice Awards. So obviously we're sharing this. We have no shame left to spend.

As Linda already admitted on here - yes, we nominated ourselves.

So if you've ever agreed with something a customer said about us, or had a coffee, a lunch, a hug, a mediocre attempt at small talk, or just liked the playlist enough not to complain - that's basically a vote in our book. We'd love the real thing too.

👉 Vote Chocolate & Co – Café of the Year, and Best Customer Experience
www.yorkmix.com/choice
Huge thanks to Steve from The Pig & Pastry for making our week and giving us content. The Pig And Pastry
We nominated ourselves. Now it's on you. 😂

11/09/2026

Another achievement to celebrate! 👏🏻❤️
A huge well done to Elise and Kristoff, who completed their First Aid course yesterday at Door 84! 🩹✨
They both did a fantastic job, and we’re incredibly proud of them for learning such an important and valuable skill. Well done, Elise and Kristoff! 👏🏻🥰

10/09/2026

Well… we nominated ourselves 😂
We could tell you we were “delighted to be nominated” for Café of the Year and Best Customer Experience in the YorkMix Choice Awards…
But that wouldn’t be quite the whole story.
We nominated ourselves. 🙈😂
In our defence, we did it because of all the lovely things YOU say about us - in the café, on Google, on TripAdvisor and in the messages you send us.
So we thought… why not have a go?

But here's the snag...

We can nominate ourselves.
We definitely can’t vote ourselves the winner. 😂
That bit is down to you.
So, if you love our slightly bonkers little café, what we stand for, the people we support, or simply think we make a cracking coffee & hot chocolate, we’d absolutely love your vote. ❤️
👉 VOTE FOR CHOCOLATE & CO – CAFÉ OF THE YEAR HERE, or BEST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
www.yorkmix.com/choice

And of course, please give this a share and help us spread the word - we are up against some tough competition!

We nominated ourselves. Now we need you. ❤️

10/09/2026

Well… we nominated ourselves 🤣
We could tell you we were “delighted to be nominated” for Café of the Year and Best Customer Experience in the YorkMix Choice Awards… but that wouldn’t quite be the whole story.

We nominated ourselves 🙈
In our defence, we did it because of all the lovely things YOU say about us- in the café, on goodie, on trip advisor and in the messages you send us.

So we thought why not have a go?
But here’s the snag…
We can nominate ourselves but we definitely can’t vote ourselves the winner. That bit is down to you. So, if you love our slightly bonkers little cafe, what we stand for, the people we support or simply think we make a cracking coffee and hot chocolate, we’d absolutely love your vote 🥰

Click the link in our story/ bio to vote Chocolate and Co for café of the year and best customer experience.

Please give us a share to help us spread the word- we are up against some tough competition 🥰❤️

09/09/2026

Addiction doesn’t always look the way we think it does.

We sat down with Jobey & asked him 3 simple questions about what life is like when you’re living with addiction.

This was our second: what’s the hardest part of your day?

This is Jobey’s answer.

No script. No judgment. Just his truth ❤️