A Bristol business has praised the "amazing kindness" from customers after a tip jar was stolen from one of their coffee bars. The owner of Can't Dance Coffee said: "I can’t describe how uplifting it’s been to see the community support us."
The Bristol-based independent coffee chain has locations in Victoria Square, Clifton and Weston-super-Mare. It posted on Instagram reporting that after a tip jar was stolen from the Clifton site on Monday, customers who witnessed the incident all chipped in to offer up whatever change they had in their pockets to make up the pot.
The coffee shop's founder Lucy Grantham told Bristol Live: "The other customers realised what happened, and they jumped to help, and each donated to the tip jar. We had around £50 stolen, and in the five minutes directly afterwards, we had £30 again donated from generous regulars.
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"Since then, we have had even more lovely customers come to give a pound or two. One lovely regular, who comes for a cappuccino every afternoon without fail, even gave us £45 in tips. I can’t describe how uplifting it’s been to see the community support us.
"Although £50 of stolen tips doesn’t seem like a lot, my team give a lot of time and energy to the job and take pride in their roles here at Can’t Dance. It’s difficult times for everyone at the moment, and the staff’s hard-earned tips should end up in their pockets at the end of the week. It’s been lovely to see the public rally to support us in these difficult times. "
Speaking about the theft, which took place earlier this week, Ms Grantham said: "Someone came to buy a coffee on a quiet afternoon at our calm corner of Clifton Village. After they ordered and paid, the supervisor on shift turned around to make the customer’s coffee, which is standard practice. When she turned back around to serve the customer his drink out of the hatch, she noticed the tip jar was missing.
"She asked this customer, as well as another waiting customer, politely if they’d seen the jar. The suspected thief avoided any eye contact and mumbled that 'he wasn’t that sort of guy'. The supervisor asked again as he was acting shiftily and refused any wrongdoing. She could hear the tip jar jangling in his bag. To avoid any aggression and to avoid a difficult confrontation, the supervisor let it go."
The Instagram post added: "What amazing kindness from people", adding, "We will obviously be chaining the next tip jar to the unit going forward!"
Ms Grantham founded Can't Dance Coffee in 2020, starting out with a mobile coffee trike, which quickly became popular as Bristolians looked for safe and socially distanced ways to socialise during lockdowns. Now housed in a shipping container on a formerly redundant paved area on the outskirts of Clifton Village, the team serves up coffee seven days a week with mobile units around the city and a second site at Weston-super-Mare.
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