Community Café aims to expand thanks to councillor support

A pop-up community café run by volunteers on a Bury Edmunds’ estate is looking to help even more residents, after gaining a councillor’s support.

The Friends of Westbury Social Club, a group of volunteers, set up the Westbury Community Café on the Westley estate last summer following a successful lottery bid. The community café, which is held in the Westbury Social Club, is open from 10am to 4pm four days a week.

Sharon Finlayson, from the Friends, said: “We had feedback from parents who said they felt a bit isolated at home once they had dropped their children off at school. While many of them were then in contact with friends on Facebook, you can’t beat real human contact.

“We want the community café to be open to all residents on the estate. This is a perfect place for parents and grandparents to come to meet, have a coffee, chat and a bite to eat and for anyone who feels lonely, a bit isolated or who is new to the estate, to come along and make new friends.”

Events are also being held in the café. This has included a local sewing group offering handmade items for sale, a visit from an Avon representative and Halloween and Christmas themed photoshoots with a professional photographer.

Councillor Clive Springett, who represents the estate on West Suffolk Council, has backed the community initiative with £500 from his locality budget. The money has been used to buy equipment to allow the café to serve hot meals. It will also enable the Friends to host more events for the local community.

Mr Springett said: “The Westley estate is a great community that likes to support each other and so I’m pleased to support this fantastic initiative. It’s about people having a place to go, meet and make new friends and it can only make the community even stronger.”

The community café is open Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4pm. For more information, see the community café on Facebook at Westbury Café & Takeaway

Pictured above is Clive Springett with some of the volunteers and customers of the Westbury Community Café, on the Westley estate, in Bury St Edmunds.