Brick Corner is a family run independent business created by Dave and Dorcas Lydford.
During lockdown, the idea of a LEGO® Themed Café was formed. As parents of 5 Autistic children, we know the value of finding a safe inclusive environment where all needs are met. We wanted to provide a safe space that everyone would feel welcome and comfortable in. We also wanted to provide a space where people could meet, be together and chat all whilst being able to enjoy playing with LEGO® if they wanted to.
We opened Brick Corner in June 2021, just as COVID restrictions were being lifted. Not the easiest time to open a café business but despite the challenges then and the ongoing cost of living crisis too, we celebrated Brick Corner’s second birthday in June 2023. During our first two years we have slowly but surely become known in our local community, and we are very proud of the links we have made with other local groups and organisations. We love Buxton and we are keen to offer our Café space to anyone who might benefit from it.
We have welcomed students from Buxton and Leek College for work experience and we also offer volunteer opportunities for Adults with Learning Disabilities.
We absolutely love working with ‘Bright Opportunities’, and we are very proud to be the current home to the Carers Connecting SEN High-Peak Support Group on a Wednesday morning. We are delighted to be host to the Still Waters Memory Café for those with, or caring for those with, dementia.
We are very community minded and if there is a competition or a town event to get involved in, we are usually there! We try to hold regular themed events and competitions at the Café for everybody to get involved in. We collaborated with Discover Buxton to jointly run a LEGO® tram building competition, which was a huge success, and we hope to run similar events in the future.
As the café grows in popularity, we have also grown a fabulous team of staff who share our inclusive and welcoming attitude.
Dorcas’s roots are firmly based in her love of the countryside and farming, but she is also very community minded and has been involved in several charities. She is currently Secretary to GAP (Glass Ball Art Projects) a charity involved in making art more accessible to both rural communities and minority groups.
When Dorcas isn’t running around after her children, she can be found with her dogs and chickens at the allotment.
Most importantly Dorcas is a Mun to 5 amazing children. They children all have Autism and as a family they have ridden the roller coaster ride that this diagnosis brings. She is incredibly proud of their children and the resilience they have shown in what can be a very cruel world. As a family we have experienced the isolation a diagnosis can bring both for the child and for the parent and wanted to do something that prevented other families going through something similar.
It wouldn’t be right to talk about Dorcas and not include her wider family. Without Dorcas’ Dad as chief financial advisor, Brick Corner would not survive and without the love and support from their respective families, Brick Corner wouldn’t exist. Family near and far is at the heart of all that we do.