New Whanganui cafe Aunty’s will donate profits to mental health and addiction service

The new team leading Aunty's Cafe is (from left) Jono Rose, Rana Aston, Julie Morris and Sarah Allison. Photo / Eva de Jong

Whanganui Balance Aotearoa - a mental health and addiction service - is opening a cafe at the former site of Ambrosia Delicatessen.

Nevanah Turner, who owned Ambrosia Delicatessen & La Bolsa Negra Cafe in Ridgway St for nearly 16 years, retired and closed her business on July 19.

The new cafe - named Aunty’s - will serve food that is inspired by wholesome, home cooking with Pasifika and Māori flavours, with all the profits going towards funding Balance Aotearoa’s services.

Balance Aotearoa general manager Rana Aston said her vision for the cafe was for it to be a safe space for anyone in the community, and she hoped the environment would help prevent people from feeling isolated.

“I think loneliness has a lot to answer for,” Aston said.

“Life can get really hard for people and I think everyone at some time of their life may experience distress or addiction.”

It will have a strong local focus, with the walls already featuring works by Whanganui artist Mike Marsh, and there are plans to sell apple juice provided by Balance Aotearoa former general manager Frank Bristol.

Balance Aotearoa financial administrator Julie Morris said having the same location and staff as Ambrosia Delicatessen would help with their transition into running a cafe business.

Aston said the cafe was still planning to “draw inspiration from Aunty Nevanah”.

“The reason why I came up with the name Aunty’s is to promote that sense of community we want to have with this cafe.

“I think a lot of people in Aotearoa were brought up calling people auntie and uncle ... I’ve had this big whānau and they’re not all necessarily related to me, and so I think I want to bring that same feeling to Aunty’s.”

Balance Aotearoa is opening a cafe at a time when many charities are finding it hard to secure funding.

The Whanganui Budget Advisory Service recently faced a cut to its funding despite an increase in the number of clients accessing its services.

Aston said Balance Aotearoa had been looking for an opportunity like this for a while because finding extra funding was getting “harder and harder”.

“Whenever they buy a coffee or a cake, 100% of the profits are going back into the community, and so you don’t need to spend extra to do good.”

Whanganui Balance Aotearoa has 380 members who are supported through its peer support worker services.

The scheduled opening for Aunty’s Cafe is August 1.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.