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What our community says about us...
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I have been coming down to Geek retreat since around December time with my son.
We attend the group for parents and carers of Autistic children every other Wednesday.
I myself suffer from Anxiety and have found it hard to go anywhere with my son. His condition can sometime make things difficult for me to cope with as he can be very unpredictable.
Having a safe and welcoming place to come and chat to other people in the same or similar situations has been amazing.
We have become friends on social media with some of the other parents and share info between ourselves. This has really helped with my son and also helped my confidence to cope.
Having an autistic child can be a very lonely place when you're their carer and Geek Retreat has helped to lessen that loneliness.
I am so very grateful to them to having the passion to open such a wonderful, friendly and accommodating cafe.
[Customer email]
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This is a fantastic place very friendly very recommended. Burgers are fantastic and reasonable priced drinks.
Me and my friend now meet up here instead of in other places. Very recommended safe place for things like those with autism staff very aware and helpful.
Such a good addition to Ipswich I can not recommend it highly enough and am very thankful for its opening in Ipswich
[Google Review]
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Popped in for the first time this evening for a look with my autistic sister-in-law and was given a show around and had a good chat, made to feel very comfortable.
Fantastic shop, friendly staff. Looking forward to returning.
[Google Review]
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Geek Retreat Ipswich has been a necessary addition to the Ipswich High Street since opening last year.
Not only do they provide an excellent customer-focused team, but they are inclusive of everyone.
They try to accommodate a lot of needs that have been missing in Ipswich whilst becoming a community hub for the town.
[Customer email]
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Visited this little gem on recommendation. I'd taken my son to a chess holiday event as he was keen to learn to play.
The staff were friendly and exceptionally helpful and thanks to Rob my son is even more enthused about the game.
Mixed age groups, family friendly and very inclusive. It has a great vibe and is a great place to hang out. We are looking forward to our next visit!
[Google Review]
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In the limited time Geek Retreat Ipswich has been open it has profoundly affected many lives and not many businesses can say that!
The event you organised to raise funds for Suffolk Pride was so inspirational and we have had people talking about it ever since, with nearly £500 made for a fantastic cause, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
We were also really pleased to see you were the first in our town to have made your toilets official "safe spaces" for LGBTQ+ people which will open more doors to our community!
The high street is a better and safer space thanks to you and your team!
[Customer Email]
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My son who has autism, has visited a couple of times now, he loves it, great food and drinks, very friendly staff, and you can play computer games, as his mum it's great to know there's a safe environment for him to go to that's local, highly recommend trying them out for geeks of any sort and any age 😊
[Google Review]
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Kind, friendly staff and good food.
A very accepting place for anyone who struggles to make friends or gets anxious but enjoys playing board/card games
[Google Review]
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Took my son & daughter to visit today & they loved it!! This hub is just what Ipswich needs.
Friendly staff, good atmosphere, plenty to keep everyone 'nerdy or geeky' amused & entertained.
They loved the food & my son was highly amused by the Dr Bad-Boon milkshake....reasonably priced as well. Thank you for being so welcoming.
Keep up the good work!!x
[Google Review]
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I think Sharon and Rob have done an outstanding job. There is nothing else like Geek Retreat around for children/adults to hang out and be themselves.
Geek Retreat has taken on my child to work as an volunteer , who suffers from anxiety and depression and has never mixed well with other people.
Now they look forward to their days of going into work, they mix well with others who work there also the customers. They have come out of their shell and have shown a massive improvement in their mood .
I am forever grateful for Sharon for giving my child a chance!
[Customer/Mum]
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I feel very happy working at Geek Retreat and making lots of new friends. I enjoy working on the tills, taking the customer's orders, scanning the items and saying "have a nice day" when the customers leave the shop.
I also enjoyed doing my cartoon workshop's. I show the children my comic pages that I have laminated, giving them some ideas so they can all draw their own little comic strips which they can take home with them.
I sometimes volunteer for the PAC Group on Wednesday whenever it's on. I chat to the people that come along to the group and love playing with the autistic children.
I am so pleased that Sharon and Rob gave me a job at Geek Retreat, I will always do my best when working for them.
Geek Retreat Team Ipswich are fantastic!
[Staff Member]
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The Geek Retreat for me is a friendly, welcoming place. I came for a baby group and have ended up with some lovely friends. From the moment I walked in I knew this was going to be my kind of place.
All the staff are lovely and go above and beyond for their customers. The atmosphere is chilled but also vibrant. My little girl runs riot around the shop, but Sharon is always so relaxed about it.
When i heard there was a break in I immediately texted my friend and said not our geek retreat!
I love going there and so does my little girl.
The Geek retreat deserves to win an award for all their hard work and for giving this town a community space we feel safe and happy in. They have made a lot of people very happy and deserve to be recognised for that.
It feels like an exclusive club , that everyone is welcome to join.
Love you Geek Retreat and hope you win! 🏆 x
[Customer email]
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I have worked in the town centre community for a few years now and it has been a delight to witness a business arrive, bringing such instant and ongoing positive impact.
Geek Retreat has become an admired and respected business, about which people speak of with nothing but fondness.
The team set a standard of inclusivity that is a much-needed example and their core values as a business and as people is inspiring.
Patrons truly depend on Geek Retreat as a safe, welcoming and community-invested place. Ipswich is privileged to have them among its businesses.
[Customer email]
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Geek Retreat Ipswich have been fundamental in the founding of IBBL (Ipswich Blood Bowl League). Blood Bowl despite the name sounding a bit violent, is a comedic game of fantasy football.
It started before the store even opened when they hosted meet the crew events at local venues around the town. This offered a platform for fans of various games to share their interests and meet each other ahead of the grand opening itself. This allowed for a fluid transition into regular games.
When Geek Retreat opened, we started discussing the idea of running a league.
This is the format when the game really comes to life... and it is very hard to do without a regular space to meet and play.
Rob, Sharon, Wookie, Ben, and the rest of the crew were immediately supportive of our idea for running a league. They were flexible with finding a time and reserving space for us to play and have regularly checked in to see if they can support us in anyway. Additionally, they generously offered a prize for the winner of the first season of IBBL!
IBBL Season 2 is just about to start, seeing a 50% increase of regular coaches from the previous league. We are excited to continue building our group, alongside the wider gaming tabletop community at Geek Retreat.
It's been a pleasure being hosted by the wonderful team at Geek Retreat and look forward to planning some bigger events, such as tournaments, as the year goes on.
[Customer email]
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I first came across the Geek Retreat when I was working online all day I asked my husband to take our 2 girls (aged 3 and 8) out for the day. He decided to take them to Ipswich to check out the cosplay weekend at Geek Retreat, having been told about it by our childminder.
He said it was simply awesome, welcoming, fun and chilled. He sent me pictures of the girls enjoying wild flavoured milkshakes and playing Mario whilst superheroes circulated.
I tagged their insta account from my business page saying thanks for showing everyone a good time whilst I was teaching for 6 hours on zoom. The owner Sharon then messaged and said shed be more than happy to see if there was some way they could support my little business in some way and I should go see them- so I did!
When I met Sharon she was really interested in my business and showed me around - I didnt realise it was so big inside and the bonus was they were starting to expand their vegan options. We chatted about how I could maybe use the space and decided on monthly free hypnobirthing workshops upstairs. As a thank you, I offered to come and support one of their weekly parent a tot groups on a Thursday, which I have been doing for a few months now.
The whole team at Geek Retreat are awesome - caring, approachable, funny and they really care about every customer. They have the biggest hearts.
Everyone feels Geek Retreat is a safe haven and a place that anyone can go to hang out, meet, eat and play and be welcomed with lots of happy faces.
The extra events they do such as drag nights and cosplay events are so exciting and just demonstrate their inclusiveness and love for all people.
It warms my heart to have such a wonderful place in Suffolk - not just Ipswich (im not from Ipswich but come here regularly).
I really hope they continue to grow in popularity and keep getting wonderful customers through the door who are as passionate as the ones I see every week.
[Customer email]
