Tea, cake and community were the focus at the recent launch of the latest Places of Welcome cafe at St Augustine's, Gillingham.
With strong support from local traders including Asda, Tesco and the Post Office, as well as from the Diocese Community Engagement and Social Action Advisor, the church is now running a weekly cafe, offering free tea/coffee and light refreshments every Wednesday from 9am till 11am.
It is the second Places of Welcome cafe to be set up in the Diocese; the first opened in St. Francis, Strood last year.
According to a survey by the Red Cross, one fifth of the UK population are always, or often, lonely.
Places of Welcome is a national scheme seeking to address this, by committing to seeing every neighbourhood offer a place for people to find a friendly face, a cup of tea and a conversation if and when they need it.
Andrew Gray, who has been leading on the project for St. Augustine's said: "The whole basis for doing this is to provide a welcoming and non judgemental environment to help address real issues of social isolation and loneliness, amongst other things, in what is a very socially deprived area of Medway."
He says the idea came about after prayer and discussion at their Parochial Church Council:
"Sitting as we do at the top of Chatham Hill, and at the main junction to the Medway hospital, we think it is really important for us to move to a position where the church building is used every day of the week for and by the local community."
Caroline Clarke, Community Engagement and Social Action Adviser for the Diocese said:
"I am absolutely delighted to see this cafe already beginning to flourish and provide a real benefit to the community.
"The simplest ideas can often be the best and so I would encourage all our churches to look at the needs of the communities around them and think how they can, in a simple way, meet those needs."
If you would like help with your outreach to the community, please visit the Community Engagement and Social Action pages here.