The Castle Beach Cafe has become the first business in Falmouth to support a scheme which encourages people to buy a cup of tea or coffee for a total stranger.

Under the banner of Cornish Karma, people are buying a drink at participating cafes and takeaways and leaving them for strangers with the simple intention of making them smile.

Cornish Karma is based on the Suspended Coffee idea, which is being embraced across the world, with people buying a hot drink for themselves and a “suspended” one to be kept aside for a homeless person to be given out by the café or takeaway.

The big-hearted people of Cornwall are going one step further, though, with Cornish Karma and asking “why stop at a coffee?” and “why not for everyone?”

Already signed up to the initiative are Rory Jenkins from Embado in Perranporth; Helen Mulhern from Eventy – Marketing & PR in Penryn; Jayne Gray from Castle Beach Café in Falmouth; Taor Morris from Leopard Print in Truro and Rebecca Heane from Cream Cornwall in Falmouth.

Helen Mulhern said: “Many of us saw Suspended Coffee on Facebook and wanted to embrace it in Cornwall. On sharing the idea with friends and family, it soon became clear that people here want to do more than coffees and help anyone that needs a lift, not just the homeless.

“The look on someone’s face when they find out that their coffee has been paid for is worth every penny, as many of them then join in with the idea of “paying it forward” and buy a drink for the next customer.”

Jayne Gray, of Castle Beach Café, said: “We are so excited at Castle Beach to be the first café in Falmouth to take on board the scheme. It is really rewarding to be part of this and will help the Cornish community.

“We hope that people will be so generous that we will have suspended items left over at the end of the day, in which case we will donate the surplus using vouchers to Foodbank to distribute to anyone who needs them.”

If you would like to purchase a suspended item, please check www.CornishKarma.com for participating venues.