A NEW café focussing on locally-produced foods and hiring staff with difficult backgrounds is hoping to score top marks on its first hygiene rating.

Lavinia Blundell- Richards, who opened Yemaya's Kitchen in Wheatley in April, had to welcome inspectors from South Oxfordshire District Council weeks later.

However, she said the visit went well and she now has her fingers crossed for a high score so she can pursue her dream running of an ethical business.

Aiming to be an ‘accepting, empathetic and inclusive employer’, Mrs Blundell-Richards is already working with the NHS to hire young people who have suffered with mental health problems to sell local produce.

Taking over the grounds of what used to be the Ochre Café on Wheatley High Street, Yemaya’s Kitchen swung its doors open just six weeks later on April 17.

The space, which has been completely gutted, refurbished and switched upside-down, has set the manager and her husband back £25,000.

She said: “Everything we serve is locally produced from within a 15-mile radius, or if it's not locally-produced then it’s ethically and sustainably sourced.

“We get all of our meat from Crick’s family butchers, which is opposite us.

“All of our six members of staff walk or cycle to work."

She and her husband are now starting a project with the NHS where the health service will refer young people who have suffered mental health problems and want to work.

She said: “We train them to work in the café as baristas or prep chefs.

“The idea is to get young people into work where they might otherwise be alone or isolated.

“It means they are able to work in a positive environment and be part of something in the community.

“As an employer we give them extra support and empathy. It’s an organic process, I suppose.

“The idea came about because I’m quite passionate about helping young people back into work: we’re trying to bring a different and beautiful aesthetic to a small village.”

Eventually they hope the scheme will have an official name and could be rolled out across the county.

In the meantime, the Wheatley couple are waiting for the result of their hygiene inspection.

She added that the change to the building where the previous café traded from ‘has been so drastic.’

Yemaya's also features on the 'Dealer' app which offers users discounts at food and drink retailers – the discount saved using the app can then be donated to charities fighting homelessness.