Bridge Street Community Café is a safe, welcoming, space for anyone over 18 years of age to have a cuppa, and a chat. It will be a place to come make connections, have a snack or find out what’s on in the local area. Or if you want to sit in our quite space, read a book and just relax.

The aim of the café is to help break down the stigma around mental health difficulties, so it will welcome people without Mental Health difficulties also.  If someone is going through difficult times or they want to improve their mental health further by being with others in a group setting, they can sign up for a regular peer support group, where people give and receive non formal peer support to one another in a fully confidential space. There will be a listening table available during café times by the window where people can book in for a half hour and chat with a trained volunteer who has themselves been through difficult times about what’s on their mind. Here a person can be listened to fully, and get acknowledged for what they have or are going through.

The aim of the café is to try normalise asking for support and needing to be fully heard and acknowledged. We want to facilitate an opportunity for people to be open about, what has happened to them and for them to be responded to in a compassionate, and empathetic way. If some of us are in a good place, we can be with others who are not, as they try to navigate difficult times or make sense of what they need to improve their mental health. We want people to feel accepted and to have a sense of belonging and to encourage the whole community to help make this possible and to help reduce isolation and loneliness. 

The café will only supply light savoury & sweet snacks not meals. Providing the light snacks gives something for people to chat about who may feel uncomfortable making conversation. It is a reason to stay a bit longer at the café and potentially open up to one of the staff. It is also offering a reason for anyone from the community to come in regardless of their mental health. They may just want a snack and to leave again or they may come for a chat. We want people to feel comfortable in the café setting but not pressured to buy food/ drinks either.

Cafe Opening hours:

Mondays            10am - 4pm

Wednesdays       1pm - 4pm

Fridays               10am - 4pm & 7pm - 10pm