New café run by sisters 'feels like home for everyone who comes in'

When Futoon Qusairy moved to Liverpool for university, she didn't imagine she would make the city her home.

Futoon and her sister Noura Qusairy both moved from Irbid in Jordan to study in Liverpool, drawn by their family's love for Liverpool FC. Noura recently completed her Master's in Project Management at the University of Liverpool while Futoon has an Master's in Fashion and Art Direction.

Having graduated, together they run Yamama - a Middle Eastern café and kitchen which developed from working with refugees in the city.

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With experience of working in refugee camps in Jordan, the sisters initially set up Yamama as an artistic business which would support refugees in Liverpool and provide a creative outlet for them. They worked with artisans to produce sustainable fashion and art, but have now turned their attention to food and drink, while creating a venue to host their creative endeavours.

Their café and kitchen is found on Parliament Street in the Baltic Triangle and has been open for around a month. As well as serving Middle Eastern-inspired dishes and drinks, it acts as a hub for artists who work with the sisters.

The ECHO visited on Friday lunchtime to meet Futoon, 29, and Noura, 25 and hear about their work. The café is modern and stylish, with a number of nods to the sisters' Jordanian heritage. Its name Yamama is an Arabic word, which Futoon explained is a dove found in the region, which represents love, freedom and peace.

The café is very much a place of peace. Jazz plays over the speakers while people inside eat lunch and chat, as others work at their laptops with a cup of mint tea.

Futoon spoke to the ECHO about Yamama and what she and her