County’s first dedicated Lego-building cafe opens in Ramsgate

Kent’s first dedicated Lego-building café has opened in Ramsgate.

The Little Brick House, headed up by mum-of-three Lucy Mackins with help from friend Alisha and sister Allanah, opened its doors last Saturday and offers Lego fans a massive range of sets to build with themes ranging from animals to Spiderman, Disney, Minecraft, Super Mario and more.

For Lucy, the venture is a completely new career path having formerly worked in care homes and the NHS as a referral advisor for community services.

The change was first prompted by a bereavement and then inspired by the family’s love of theme parks and Lego.

The 30-year-old, from Ramsgate, said: “We had a family bereavement which made me take a different course after 10 years in social care.

“We love Chessington, Thorpe Park and LegoLand.

“At LegoLand they have a big area, a Lego city with the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, it’s just incredible.

“I ended up buying a Lego set and it was so relaxing and therapeutic, so I bought another one and another. The kids love it and the Lego started to outgrow our house.

“I have three SEN children and I am also ADHD so I struggle with stimulation at places like ball pits. I also think that for older children, those approaching their early teens, there are no indoor entertainment places. The majority seem to be for toddlers with role play or ball pits but nothing like our café. There are only five (Lego cafes) in the UK and nothing like this in Kent.

“It’s indoor entertainment that is therapeutic and not overstimulating and gives a sense of achievement when you finish a set.”

The café runs on a system where people can book a table for one, two or three hour slots for their builds with a choice of more than 130 sets across all age ranges.

Hot and cold drinks and a menu including toasties, paninis, acai and Greek yoghurt bowls and children’s meal deals are also on offer.

Lucy, whose husband Ben works as a diamond driller in construction and demolition, said: “There are step by step instructions so people can finish and think ‘wow, I built that.’

“There are so many themes and varieties, with sets I had but also we bought a lot of new sets as well. So, some you can build in an hour and bigger sets might take three hours.

“The sets can be very pricey so this is an affordable way to be able to build the bigger ones.”

The cafe also offers free play Lego and Duplo.

Lucy says another push to open the business was knowing her youngest joins his siblings at Newington Primary this September.

She added: “The kids are 9,7 and 4 and the youngest is due to start school so that gave me a bit of a push as for the last nine years I have worked from home so I am also with the children and I thought I wouldn’t know what to do with myself now they are growing up!”

Sessions cost £5 per person per hour. The Little Brick House is in the former dry cleaners in Queen Street (opposite Waitrose) and is trialling hours which are currently 10.30am to 2.30pm Monday, Thursday and Friday; 10am to 5pm on Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

The cafe will also be offering adult only evenings once a month. It also hosts dedicated SEN sessions designed to help children with Special Educational Needs develop social, communication and problem-solving skills.

Children are assigned roles:

• The Engineer — reads the instructions and tells the team what pieces are needed and where they go.
• The Supplier — finds the requested Lego® bricks from the pile and hands them to the Builder.
• The Builder — puts the pieces together based only on the Engineer’s verbal instructions.

Each week, children will be assigned a new role to try.

The cafe is also available for hire and parties.

Find The Little Brick House Cafe on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61589571146913

The Little Brick House Cafe, 74 Queen Street, Ramsgate.