Hope Church Community Cafe
Hope Church was one of the recipients of WCF’s first round of our Strengthening Worcestershire Fund, run in partnership with Worcestershire County Council in 2024.
From this funding round, WCF distributed £187,000, supporting 31 different projects meeting community need for cost of living, ageing well, tackling loneliness and social isolation, providing information and advice and supporting unpaid carers. We are delighted to see how our Strengthening Worcestershire Fund grants have benefited each of the groups awarded and, through their work, continue to enable them to positively impact Worcestershire people.
Hope Church host a community café in St Martin’s, Worcester run by volunteers and funded by voluntary donations. With their grant, they were able to purchase a new coffee machine and pool table and, run a world cafe event which drew the community together in celebrating the diversity of culture with food and entertainment.
Jim Harper, Church Minister reports on their grant:
“It’s been a positive experience. It was particularly nice to have Mark Jackson from the trustees of Worcestershire Community Foundation visit our world cafe event.
We have had several people attend our cafe as customers. They become regulars and through building friendships and stability we are now training some of them up to become cafe volunteers. They help out during set shifts and this helps them by giving them a community they feel safe in and can build confidence and friendships. They are also learning essential life skills like food prep and cooking skills.”
One community café attendee commented:
“It’s changed my life.”
WCF trustee, Mark Jackson visited the Community Café to see their work first hand. He said:
“It was both packed and fun! It was one of their days to gather a wide community together for an international lunch. There was a stunning Ukrainian Soprano, Bulgarian folk dancers in traditional costumes and Rasta bongo bands, to name a few of the attractions. The food ranged across different nations: Nigerian, India, Caribbean, British etc. Community groups were encouraged to cook their own menus, but the costs of much of the food came from our WCF grant. I also saw the new coffee machine we helped purchase. Talking to Jim Harper and his wife, as well as other people there, it was very interesting to hear how the centre is used by different groups, such as the homeless on the streets, lonely pensioners dropping in for a coffee, a ‘language exchange’, in addition to the church’s Christian worship. It is available for any community group to use. It is a thriving and energetic community hub for all elements of Worcester’s multicultural community.”
Click here to view video clip here.
See more information on the Strengthening Worcestershire Fund and our other grant programmes here.
For further information on WCF, to talk to us about making a donation, setting up a fund or supporting local communities, please contact Director Lucy Wells at [email protected] / 07909 111812.
For information on grants available locally and nationally, please visit the county council grants database: Home | Worcestershire County Council’s Funding Finder.
