Abi Nicol reports on a pop-up creative cafe project

This summer, six churches worked together to put on pop-up creative cafes to support their communities in Dursley and Cam, Gloucestershire, during the long summer holiday after months in lockdown. Tabernacle United Reformed Church and the Quarry Chapel URC got together with the local community church and three Anglican churches. The pop-up cafe provided a great opportunity for the local churches to work together, to give generously of their time and resources and to get to know each other better as we worked together for our local communities.

We aimed to provide a safe place to meet, and to stir up the creative love of God within us and our community. It required leaders to listen to one another, lay down their own agendas and keep focused on what was important.

We delivered five weeks of pop-up creative cafes in three venues: the Quarry Chapel, the Tab garden and the 3Cs Community Church. The sessions were delivered outside, to allow them to be conducted safely, as well as in a friendly manner.

We welcomed over 1,000 people, supported by wonderful volunteers from across the churches and wider community. It was great to see all ages involved throughout the summer.

As well as offering tea, coffee and homemade cakes for everyone, we provided 150 children’s lunch bags each week. There were also 11 high-quality takeaway creative craft kits for children to choose from each week, including collage material, willow lanterns, bunting, clay, plaster moulds and blow football. Altogether we gave out 811 kits…

Abi Nicol is a Development Worker at the Quarry Chapel United Reformed Church in Cam, Gloucestershire

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This is an extract from an article published in the November 2020 edition of Reform

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