Shirley Brown drops me a note to chat about the monthly coffee mornings at St. Cuthbert’s Church Hall, like the one this morning:
Jennifer Simpson with husband Charles co-ordinate the monthly coffee mornings held in aid of church funds on the last Saturday of each month in the Church Hall. Jennifer feels that the social side of the coffee mornings is so very important; she says that folk who do not necessarily come to church services have told her that they find it a helpful way of meeting other people, having a chat and catching up/keeping in touch.
As well as coffee (with free refills) and ‘nice’ biscuits, there’s always a raffle, with donated prizes. The home-baking stall is also very popular and usually sells out quickly, and there’s also a large selection of second-hand books, which at 25p each or 5 for £1 are incredibly good value! Frequently, books are taken home, read and then donated back again so that someone else can read them too (and of course a little bit more is added into the funds all over again!)
Jennifer mentioned that often visitors to the village or area will call in for a coffee and some of them have been known to return again on future visits.
The coffee morning, as well as providing a lovely friendly social event, also generates a very welcome addition to the church funds averaging around £100 per month. Entry is £1 which includes coffee and biscuits and raffle tickets are £1 per strip. The coffee mornings start at 10am and continue until 11:30am, so there’s plenty of time for chat.
It’s easy to see that these coffee mornings are a combined effort from a lot of people who provide baking and raffle prizes, who make and serve the coffee, set out the tables, create a welcoming atmosphere (the list goes on and on) that make this such a happy, friendly and successful ninety minutes each month.