Coffee van drives away loneliness in rural areas
A CUP of coffee with a friend could be considered a luxury after spending so long in a national lockdown.
That is why a simple idea is helping to bring people in rural areas together to combat isolation.
Rural Community Council, a charity based in Hinckley, has launched a coffee van to travel across the county bringing people together over a cup of coffee.
Last week, the Rural
Coffee Connect van stopped in the village of Wing in Rutland, where the High Sherrif of Rutland, David Wood, spent the morning with locals.
“It was interesting to see the number of people who came out,” he said. “There were people there who otherwise might not talk to people during the week.”
Throughout the lockdown, weekly coffee mornings in the village had to stop. But the coffee van has offered residents an alternative.
The charity has worked within rural communities in Leicestershire and Rutland for more than 90 years to help tackle community issues and bring people together.
For many people, particularly elderly members of the community and those considered high-risk of suffering from Covid-19, much of the last 12 months has been spent shielding. Loneliness and isolation were flagged as a huge concern during the first national lockdown by mental health charities and MPs across the country, including Leicestershire MP Neil O’Brien, who was chairing the allparty parliamentary commission on loneliness.
Speaking on BBC East Midlands in April last year, the Conservative MP spoke about the impact loneliness can have on our physical health and urged people to take action and challenge the problem. The Rural Coffee Connect is doing that by helping to bring people together in an informal and Covid-secure way as people ease out of lockdown rules. David Wood said: “It’s a great way of doing it because you can spot if people are having a bit of a bad time.
“I think it’s a superb initiative.” As restrictions ease, the coffee van will continue to visit villages across Leicester and Rutland.
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There were people there who otherwise might not talk to people during the week
David Wood