Wednesdays are ‘Warm Space’ mornings at Ely’s St Mary’s Church and more and more people are dropping in.
There’s a warm welcome and the offer of tea or coffee, toast and biscuits and WiFi for anyone wanting to browse the internet, do some work in a beautiful light space, or just sit and read the newspaper.
“We identified Warm Hubs as a clear and obvious need in Ely,” said Phil Marsh, St Mary’s Team Vicar, “ACRE, which is running 12 Warm Hubs on behalf of East Cambs District Council, had no capacity for a further project, so we decided to press on ourselves, offering a Warm Space from 9am-12.30pm each Wednesday.”
Four or five of a team of 20 volunteers are on hand to keep the coffee flowing and ensure a warm welcome.
Every Wednesday over the past month an increasing number of people have called in, some just for a cuppa, a slice of hot toast and a chat, others have found a comfortable seat and logged on to do a morning’s work while others have played board games.
“There are all kinds of reasons for using our Warm Space,” said Phil, “ two mums with toddlers met for a play date, three homeless individuals called in, someone newly-bereaved just wanted a conversation while others were people meeting up with friends or wanting somewhere warm to sit awhile.
“Nobody needs or is asked for the reason why they’ve dropped in. The church has just completed a transformation into a beautiful warm space and we want to see it shared with as many people as possible.”
Press release from St Mary’s Church, Ely
You must be logged in to post a comment.