Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Cake or Dice: Angus mums open new Dundee board game cafe

The friends behind the project want to offer people with disabilities a safe place to relax in the city centre.

Emma Barry and, Laura Stevenson with Susie Boraman outside Cake or Dice. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson
Emma Barry and, Laura Stevenson with Susie Boraman outside Cake or Dice. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

A board game cafe run by two Angus mums will open in Dundee this weekend.

Laura Stevenson and Emma Barry are behind Cake or Dice, which combines their love of board games and good food.

The Brechin-based mums had previously hoped to open a shop on Dundee’s Murraygate, but have instead secured a premises inside the Keiller Centre.

Laura said: “We’ve known each other for years – we’ve been Scout leaders and we had an events business.

“That was fun, but it wasn’t the right thing for us. It wasn’t what we really wanted.

“We didn’t know what the answer was until one day we had the idea for the board game cafe.

“Both of us love board games – we play a lot of them with our families – and then we realised that’s what we wanted to do.”

Susie Boraman will also be involved in their new venture. She will be in charge of the food offering at Cake or Dice.

A space for people who ‘feel lost’

Laura and Emma both experienced isolation after being diagnosed with long-term illnesses. The pair want to help people who have gone through a similar experience.

The co-founders also both have children with disabilities, so they hope Cake or Dice will offer a safe space in the city for young people.

Laura added: “We want a space for people who maybe feel a bit lost, just like we have many times ourselves.

Cake or Dice combines a love of board games and good food. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

“Having disabilities and children with disabilities, we’ve wondered where we can find a safe space to take our children to do things that they enjoy.

“From that point of view, it was quite a selfish thing. We wanted a space that we’d go to and that our kids would feel comfortable in.”

They have moved into a unit in the Keiller Centre that has been empty for a number of years.

‘Transforming’ disused unit into board game cafe

It has required extensive refurbishments, and that has meant many early mornings and late nights for the team.

Laura added: “When we moved in, it needed a lot of work

Cake or Dice, a new community board game cafe, will open on Saturday. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

“It hadn’t been used for a long time so we’ve done a lot to brighten it up.”

She said the premises has been “transformed” and now includes a winner’s wall, and acknowledgements for those who donated to the Cake or Dice fundraising.

She said the refurbishment has drawn plenty of attention from people within the Keiller Centre.

Inside Cake or Dice, the new board game cafe within the Keiller Centre. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

Laura said: “People have been looking in and keeping up-to-date with what we’ve been doing.

“The guys at the Keiller Centre have been great as well. We’ve fed off each others’ energy.

“The level of excitement has grown.”

Now Laura is looking forward to opening the doors to Cake or Dice for the first time.

She added: “We’re really excited – it’s been a lot of work over the last few weeks to get it ready. We can’t wait to open.”

Conversation