HI READERS, it’s Emily and William here, talking about one of our favourite cafés in Dorchester, Café Hendover.

It’s run by a nice man called Paul, and although he pretends to be grumpy, he makes us feel really welcome there. We also really like it!

We are especially pleased to be here, as last year the café was due to be sold and turned into a cocktail bar. As much as we like cocktails, we would have been sad not to see Paul anymore.

The good news is he’s staying and plans to do even more for the local community. Like this evening we are writing the Echo column here and afterwards we’ll be joined by friends to learn about being a model for Photosymbols, who produce easy to read images.

In fact, we’re also here tomorrow night for Friendship Club, to find out about scams from Fiona at Trading Standards. And we’re looking forward to greeting Janet Gleeson and Paul Atterbury from Dorchester Literary Festival, so we can thank them for choosing us as their charity this year.

So, what makes Café Hendover great? Well, it’s accessible, one toilet can accommodate a wheelchair, staff are friendly, we feel safe and welcomed, it’s right by a bus stop, nothing is too much trouble and their food is delicious (Emily lets out a satisfied sigh at the thought of this). We both come here with friends or family as we like it so much.

Paul welcomes us for evening meetings, like the Glitter Ball or volunteers. In fact it feels more like home and a community, a place where we belong, and we love laughing or joking with staff as they understand us.

Other notable places like this include the Junction, Folke Golf Club and the New Vic. Thanks so much to you all!

The writers of the Our View column are supported in their editing by The Friendship Club– a project for adults with learning disabilities, run by People First Dorset