The Welney Coffee Social Turns Two
Laura Gleave and the team at Welney are celebrating 2 years of the Welney Coffee Social – running from 10am-12pm at St Mary’s Church in Welney. What started as an idea whilst stood watching a Christmas light switch on, has grown to reach over 3000 people across all walks of life in the local community.
Laura, along with Sue and Dave Sturgess, eagerly baked and crossed their fingers for people to walk in the door. Week one saw 14 adults and 5 children attend, growing to an average of 30-40 people each week, with one week welcoming over 70 people. A team of volunteer bakers lovingly bake cakes and savouries each week. There’s no set charge for the cake or drinks, but donations are welcomed. The sessions are supported by The William Marshall Charity, and through this support, plus donations, the team has been able to enhance the facilities for those attending, provide some donations toward a children’s playworker, and support the ever-increasing running costs of St Mary’s Church who host them each week. This work has been made possible through charitable donations secured by volunteer Frances Woods.
Securing a playworker during the holidays has been hugely successful, and they will now be present for every holiday session, leading activities with children of all ages. It has been so rewarding for the team to hear children asking, “can we come back next week?”, because they’ve enjoyed themselves so much.
Following a recent visit from MP Terry Jermy, they were utterly delighted that he then spoke about The Welney Coffee Social in a recent speech at Westminster highlighting the importance of church buildings in rural communities.
Laura shared that one participant had messaged her to say;
“I just felt I wished to say how important your coffee mornings have turned out to be for me, at what is a particularly difficult time. Those couple of hours are like an oasis. So a big thank you to all who help to run the event.”
Laura and the team feel that they are achieving the aims of the Coffee Social, which were:
- Reducing rural isolation and encourage interaction in the village and surrounding areas.
- Reducing the need for the community to commute to other villages and towns for socialising.
- Provide a free service to our community in difficult economic times.
- To help build support networks for people who need help.
- To have a place children can come to during their school holidays.
- To provide a warm space for people in a time of economic difficulty.
The Welney Coffee Social team have recently recently become finalists in the BBC Make a Difference Awards, citing the huge benefit the social has brought to people – an incredibly proud moment for the team. Laura says
“The social has become a lifeline for many and a place they can come to talk, sing, laugh, cry and have a hug. Even after 2 years we are still getting newbies joining us, which is wonderful. We have all ages attend the social and it is very welcoming so people shouldn’t be afraid of coming alone. I promise you won’t regret it”.