Cafe Blog Winter 2010: Happy New Year!

As the Community Coaching Cafe comes to the end of its first year here in St Neots, we hope you had a relaxing holiday spent with good friends or family to help you recharge your batteries for whatever lies ahead in 2011!

It doesn't take a crystal ball to predict that it will be a tough year for many - as public services disappear and community leaders and groups struggle to reassemble themelves to meet the most urgent needs of local people - perhaps working in partnership with other like minded organisations to create something new.

Our learning curve this year was steep, but fun, and we are proud of what we achieved with our team of volunteers. We attracted 20 interested enquirers, 12 training up as Community Cafe Listeners, an independent befriending service offered to anyone in the community who needs to talk. Half a dozen others offered their skills running workshops for us, or supporting us behind the scenes. Thanks to them:

• we listened to 20 local people and helped lighten their load a little
• we linked with Loves Farm, with Paines Mill foyer, the town council, the new Cornerstone Cafe, youth and mental health counsellors, drug agencies, children's centres and schools
• we thankfully received funds from Cambs Community Foundation to run 7 art workshops - the first being the Christmas lantern painting workshop for some of the Loves Farm carol singers which was great fun.
• We're excited about running a creative art workshop for the new drop-in centre in St Neots once it's open, and one for the Papworth Trust's new youth club in Huntingdon at Easter.

We got the perfect logo designed for us by local biologist and mum, Emma Southern. We bought a business telephone number - 0845 582 6224 and we were lucky enough to get funding for training volunteers, for running art workshops, and for the business mentoring we are planning for 2011.

We learned that we need double the number of volunteers as many can't commit regularly enough because of family or health reasons - so we need more people and a bigger training budget.

We learned that some potential users of our service were put off meeting Listeners in coffee bars or pubs, so we decided to set up a monthly parent drop-in group at Cafe Nero's from 10-12 starting in January 2011. It will include a confidential Listener session for those who would like it.

Next year will be a more grown up service based on what's been asked for. We'll be offering more training, setting up peer-mentoring groups for young people and parents, running inter-generational creative activity days bringing together young and older people, and offering social and spiritual personal development workshops and mentoring. We'll also begin offering business mentoring. Check our our 2011 Calendar of events:

January: Community tree planting events at the new Paxton Pits education centre, and at Rosehills Helthy Living Centre in Letchworth - dates to be advised. Parent Zone drop in group at Cafe Nero - on January 25th from 10-12 - including a creative art workshop.

February: We are making our first Youtube video about how we can support social enterprises. We have our first AGM on February 28th, 7.30-8.30. Parent Zone drop in on Feb 22nd 10-12 at Cafe Nero's.

I think 2011 will offer some great opportunities - I hope you will be part of it as a host organisation for a workshop, or a volunteer, a friend or a sponsor! Together we'll be amazing!

- Christine