A warm welcome at St James with Holy Trinity, Scarborough

Paul Davies, Mustard Seed Community Minister from St. James with Holy Trinity in Scarborough gives an overview of their new Community Cafe:

I’m not sure if this was a coincidence, but our Community Café started at roughly the same time as my Mustard Seed “graduation” in April of last year.

I would like to think that in a small way, there was an element of divine planning at work, as it was a great opportunity to follow through, in a practical sense, some of the ideas that we had explored during the previous year.

So, in April 2022 our close knit team of volunteers at St James opened up shop on what was initially a monthly, now twice monthly basis, offering a welcoming space for whoever wishes to join us for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

On the menu are tea, coffee, cake, friendly chat, table tennis, dominoes, quoits, jigsaws and even some enthusiastic carol singing at our December meeting.

We’ve been delighted to attract a wide variety of guests, folks new to the area looking for a connection, locals seeking a bit of company, congregation members and their friends, who enjoy spending time together as well as meeting new people, and for everyone, the possibility of coming closer to God.

We are also badged as a “Warm Space” although we would like to think that this refers to more than the temperature.

We greatly appreciate the support from Mustard Seed, both in terms of the grant funding and the encouragement from all the team. This has helped keep us on a sustainable footing and maintain our focus on mission in our community.

In the past year we have kept a steady rhythm at the Community Cafe with consistent opening, support from volunteers, a loyal regular clientele, as well as a gradual increase in newcomers.  As a result we have extended our opening hours from 3pm to 3.30pm to accommodate enthusiastic Domino players.

Whilst the majority of attendees are seniors, this is  not exclusively the case, and it has been particularly pleasing to receive a group of teenagers, with carers, from the  Blueberry Academy, a local special needs school, who are happy in a "low intensity" environment. Equally, as we move into Spring and Summer , we hope to receive visitors from the Scarborough Hall Care Home.

Whilst the majority of attendees come to chat, play games and consume tea and cake, Rev Elspeth has run a faith based course from Hope Together for those wishing to participate, in an adjoining room, and a couple of chaps have graduated to regular Church attendance.

Our collaboration with Home Instead and Advocacy Alliance has slipped to the side-lines in the past year but we have planned some cooperation with Age UK in April as part of a wider outreach they are undertaking, hopefully this will have a knock on benefit for us.

There are some questions, going forward, on the planned  re-purposing of Church buildings,  but we remain in it for the long haul with the Community Cafe, even if this involves moving to a new space.

To find out more about St James’ Scarborough, click here.