A NEW community cafe in to open in a rural village for two days a week.
Ipstones Memorial Hall has been successful in a grant application to the Staffordshire Moorlands Positive Ageing Innovation Fund to set up a community cafe with internet access, games and activities.
The cafe, to be known as Cafe Connect, will be open on Mondays and Thursdays between 11am and 3pm. It will be run by a team of volunteers, who will receive training in food safety in catering.
The opening date has been set for Monday April 8 in the hall extension, when the volunteers will serve home-made cakes, scones, teacakes, soup and filled oatcakes, along with hot drinks.
Board games and cards will be available together with a small lending library of books, CD's and DVDs.
President of Ipstones Memorial Hall, Barry Shuttleworth, said: “There used to be a cafe in the village shop and people had suggested it would be nice to get a facility up and running again. When the funding came to our attention we applied for it and have been awarded £1,500.
"We will have computers available if some people would like to use them, while others might just like to meet up for a social chat.
"We also envisage networking with other organisations like walking groups to offer facilities as either a starting or finishing point for their walk.
The organisers stress that the success of the venture will rely on volunteers, and if anyone is interested, please contact Pam Ramsay on 01538 260080 or Barry Shuttleworth on 01538 266633.
