Birthday celebration for community café
A patients group hosted a party to celebrate the second birthday of the community café they set up with help from Shropshire Council and the NHS.
Worthen Patients Participation Group held the celebration at the Callow Community Café in the village on Friday 6 July 2012.
The café, which is open at Worthen Methodist Church every other Friday from 11am to 1.30pm, gives the community a chance to join together while enjoying homemade soup, cakes and hot drinks.
The café opened after the patients group held a meeting in the village for all patients of the practice to discuss what new opportunities could benefit the area. A total of 70 people attended and shared how they would like somewhere where they could meet, make new friends and exchange information.
The patients group applied to the Bishop’s Castle, Chirbury, Worthen and Clun Local Joint Committee (LJC) for a grant to buy equipment and cover the rent for the first few months of the café’s opening. LJCs are allocated money from Shropshire Council that they can use to fund local community projects or to improve local services.
The non-profit making café is now a popular meeting place, with six tables regularly full. Some of the other benefits the café provides are:
- Events to raise money for charity take place three times a year
- Informal chats are held with visiting health policymakers
- A free book exchange is available
- The group is looking to set up an Internet point at the café
- Shropshire Councillor for Chirbury and Worthen, Heather Kidd, holds a surgery in the café.
Liz Cass from the patients group said:
“Since the community café was opened, people have made new friends and there are great links with other groups in the village. As a result patients are feeling healthier, happier and more fulfilled.”
Councillor Charlotte Barnes, LJC chairman, said:
“The patients group has brought people from across the community together to improve opportunities in the village. It is great that the LJC has been able to help them make a difference.”
Councillor Heather Kidd, Shropshire Councillor for Chirbury and Worthen, and former LJC chairman, said:
“The success of the community café is an absolute credit to the patients’ group. The work they have done is fantastic. It is a great achievement and I am delighted that the LJC has been able to support the setting up of this valued community facility.”
Dr Caron Morton, accountable officer with the Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said:
“Over the past 18 months we have been working closely with local patients, to review not only how we take on our new responsibilities, but at how we can build on the good work already carried out to develop sustainable and excellent services for people in Shropshire. Groups such as this are an invaluable asset to the community.”
The LJC also awarded the patients group a grant to set up an Extend class after this was requested by patients. The class offers activities aiming to keep both body and mind healthy. The weekly class has been running for three years and is thriving, with 16 patients attending on a regular basis.
In addition, the patients group founded the Worthen Walking for Health group four years ago to provide gentle outdoor exercise and an opportunity to socialise for people with limited mobility. The group meets twice a month and regularly has 10 to 15 walkers who meet for coffee and a chat after each walk. The eldest member recently celebrated his 97th birthday at the Callow Café.
The café will next be open on Friday 20 July 2012.
For further information about the community café and the groups run by Worthen Patients Participation Group contact Karen Higgins, Support for Patient Involvement, Shropshire County Primary Care Trust, on 01743 277593.
