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Wearside stories you may have missed this week

Washington Wetland Centre Mimi and Musa touching their noses affectionately after drinking water. Their fur is wet.Washington Wetland Centre
Seeing Musa and Mimi share a kiss was "quite cute", keeper Daniel Scott said, as he remembered Mimi's life

A cafe saved after volunteers stepped in, remembering an otter who warmed hearts with her love story and a campaign to save a historic pub.

Here are some stories you may have missed on Wearside this week.

The 'pioneer' otter with a special love story

Washington Wetland Centre Mimi the otter is napping on a horizontal tree trunk in the sunshine. She has shiny brown fur, which is white around her eyes and neck. Her long tail is draped down along the trunk.Washington Wetland Centre
Mimi was born in 2011 and moved to Washington Wetland Centre the following year

The death of an otter who made history among the species and warmed hearts with her love story has been a "massive shock", one of her keepers said.

Mimi, who died on 1 March, had been living at Washington Wetland Centre near Sunderland since 2012.

The centre believes she is among the first Asian short-clawed conservation otters to receive a birth control implant.

But it was her close bond with otter Musa - who she shared nine cubs with - that brought her to the public's attention.

Charity cafe saved after volunteers step in

Anne Kemp smiling at the camera next to her husband Derek Kemp behind the counter at Bede's Bakehouse. They are wearing white T-shirts with the red and yellow logo of St Peter's Church. Anne has short grey hair and is wearing a dark blue apron. Derek has black-rimmed glasses. There is a range of cakes and bakes in front of them.
Cafe founders Anne Kemp and her husband Derek will be stepping down from volunteering in April

A charity-run cafe which was approaching a "crisis" over dwindling volunteer numbers has been saved.

Bede's Bakehouse, which is based within Sunderland's St Peter's Church, had warned it might be forced to close if more helpers did not join the team.

But chair of trustees Joshua McKeith, who also represents the area on the city council, said its future had been secured after about 10 volunteers joined.

Anne Kemp, 74, who is one of the cafe founders and will be stepping back in April, said: "They all like it and will hopefully still come when I leave."

Campaign to preserve 'historic' pub after closure

A man with white hair and a beard, wearing a khaki green puffer jacket and a green T-shirt, stands to the right of a red-brick period building.
The Mountain Daisy closed earlier this month

A campaign has been launched to preserve a Grade II*-listed pub which is more than 100 years old, following its sudden closure.

The Mountain Daisy, in Millfield, Sunderland, pulled its last pints on 1 March, after its landlord announced the venue had been sold to an undisclosed buyer.

The Sunderland and South Tyneside branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) said the pub was of "historic interest" and the group would be watching "very closely" to see what happened next to the site.

The Trust Inns, which originally listed the pub for sale, has been approached for comment.

'Big' waiting lists for city's scouting groups

Sunderland District Scouts A scout leader giving instructions to four younger members at a field. They are wearing backpacks and blue and white scarves.Sunderland District Scouts
There are about 500 scouts in Sunderland

Scouting groups in the city believed to have been home to one of the first troops are facing big waiting lists over a lack of adult volunteers, its leaders have said.

Sunderland's scouting troop was the first to be inspected by founder Robert Baden-Powell in 1908, with a blue plaque commemorating the event recently unveiled.

More than 117 years later, scouting in the city is still going strong with some young people on a waiting list almost from birth, leaders said.

But more adult volunteers are needed to help cater for demand, they added.

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