We are a group of women who meet on the fourth Thursday of the month in Pakefield Church Hall, beginning at 2.00pm, unless otherwise stated.
Our aims are:
* Promoting friendship, support and social activities for women in the local community
* Raising funds for our charitable causes.
All women are welcome (whether or not you are a wife !)
PAKEFIELD WIVES’ GROUP
Quite rightly, there has been a great deal of publicity lately regarding bringing communities together and nearly three years of Covid highlighted the need more than ever. Ann Osborn gave a talk at our meeting on the 25th May to tell us more of the facilities such as Rural Coffee Caravan which “…helps tackle, isolation and loneliness by providing a mobile pop-up café which is also an information hub.” Ann was a stay-at-home mum for a couple of decades which, in itself, can be quite isolating. Therefore, it was with a great deal of trepidation that she ventured out to find a job and it was how she joined the Rural Coffee Caravan project. Off she went with the caravan to isolated villages providing tea/coffee, cake and relevant information, thus entering into a world of people from all walks of life together with volunteers, various organisations and Councils giving support.
From this project, new ones sprung up, such as ‘Meet Up Mondays’ which “….gives hospitality businesses the chance to strengthen their local community and show that the commercial world also cares about ending loneliness…” and there are now 52 pubs involved in this project (www.MeetUpMondays.org.uk) , including our own pub, the Norman Warrior.
The Rural Coffee Caravan ‘coffee-and-friends-events’ network helps to connect Suffolk community groups to useful resources. There is a map on their website to enable people to find their nearest café events or phone 01379 855338 or info@ruralcoffeecaravan.org.uk. Sheila gave the vote of thanks and remarked how uplifting it is to hear about the kindness of others. These cafes and pubs help ease isolation in rural areas and is a place to meet people and chat whilst enjoying refreshments. Thank you, Ann, for all the extra information gained from your talk and, where necessary, to be able to pass on.
The next meeting is on the 22nd June and is a talk by Emma Butler-Smith on The Marina Theatre and Beyond.
Advance notice for your diary: Our Carol Service this year is on WEDNESDAY 6TH DECEMBER IN CHURCH