A cuppa and a chat can help

Community cafe launches new initiative

A Motherwell community cafe have launched a drop-in service for people who are going through a hard time and need someone to talk to.

The Motherwell Health and Social Care Consortium have funded the pop-up event at Windmills Cafe.

It will run from 10am to 2pm until March at the Brandon Parade East venue, following a successful pilot in conjunction with Suicide Prevention Week last September.

Joy Gillespie, development manager at Windmills, said: “Last year the pop-up cafe had vulnerable and struggling people who came for a chat and felt better, which enabled them to have the confidence to go and access other help services within the town.”

The staff at Windmills work with young people who have learning support needs and were encouraged by other health organisations in the town to create a space that helps people sort out their feelings, put things into perspective or release tension.

A spokesperson for Lanarkshire Links, one of the groups organising the initiative, said: “This service compliments existing support services in the area and offers space to those who are feeling lonely or struggling with emotional difficulty and feel things are not sufficiently serious that they need to visit their GP.

“The cafe will give people the opportunity to talk through things and will re-direct and signpost people to existing services they may be unaware of or unsure how to access.”

While talking may seem a simplistic solution to the problems many people face, the benefits are known to be far-reaching.

The drop-in service will be available every Monday, but Windmillls is open throughout the week.

It helps young adults with learning disabilities live independent lives, helping them secure work placements, volunteering positions and paid employment.

Windmills – billed as a ‘cafe with a conscience’ – is committed to providing a safe, friendly and affordable place in the town centre for people to get together and feel accepted. Pupils from Firpark School formed a committee in 2006 to ensure young people with learning disabilities had access to work experience.

Joy added: “Windmills Cafe is an enterprise that invests in young people between the ages of 16-25 with learning disabilities.

“It gives them the chance to learn things they wouldn’t elsewhere and working in the cafe enables them to improve their communication skills with other staff, members of the public and builds their selfesteem.

“It helps to ensure they know how to make a cup of tea or coffee or even a soup and a sandwich as well as providing qualifications in cooking and hospitality which help them to go for jobs in the catering industry.”

Go online to www. windmillscafe.co.uk or search for ‘Windmills Cafe’ on Facebook or Twitter for more details on the cafe.