A Whitehaven cafe has joined a national movement to help combat loneliness.
Cross’s Coffee Shop has joined the Chatty Café Scheme, which aims to reduce social isolation by encouraging people to start conversations.
Cross’s, on Roper Street. is now hosting a Chatty Table every Friday from 10am to noon, offering a welcoming space for people to connect.
Look out for the table with a yellow triangular sign, and volunteers wearing a yellow lanyard.
Staff from Hope Haven will be there to greet people, offer a listening ear, and spark conversations between those sat at the table.
Hope Haven is a new community wellbeing project, bringing together health, social care and community services to offer people in Whitehaven and Copeland support without needing to be referred or go on a waiting list.
Their staff at the Chatty Table can offer some encouragement or advice on the spot. They can also arrange for someone to get more support if they want it.
This could be one-to-one help from nurses or GPs at Cumbria Health, support workers at mental health charity Everyturn, housing and money advice from Home Group, or help from several other partner organisations.
Charles, one of the Hope Haven staff who hosts the Chatty Table, said: “I’m really looking forward to meeting people and seeing what conversations we have.
“Feeling lonely and isolated can have a huge effect on our mood and mental wellbeing. But simply having a chat and connecting with each other can really turn someone’s day around.
“Cross’s has been a pillar of the community in Whitehaven for many years. Everyone knows it as a friendly, welcoming place. So, adding the weekly Chatty Table every Friday will help more people make those connections and hopefully feel a bit less alone. It’s about bringing people together – everyone is invited!”
The Chatty Table is open to all, whether you’re alone, in a couple, with a friend, a carer, or a parent with a baby.
