February Service of the Month

Service of the Month - February
Time for Tea

Time for Tea? What an odd name for a service you might think but, like those well-known paints, it does what it says on the tin!

Originating from partner work with The Ridings Shopping Centre in Wakefield at their Cuppa Club event, Time for Tea went on to develop the idea of holding events where people already are; In the supermarket, shopping centres and we are even branching out to partner with Wetherspoons (watch this space). In short, a no barriers approach, slowly building up trust and awareness of what Age UK Wakefield District has to offer and making sure people know where to turn for help and support.  A trusted relationship, partnering with The Ridings Shopping Centre, Tesco Hemsworth, Morrison’s Dewsbury Road and Knottingley, we are in the heart of the community.

With such a great idea, we were successful in getting funds from The National Lottery Community Fund for a three year project starting in September 2019. I was lucky enough to be appointed Manager and started work with Age UK Wakefield District in Dec 2019, shortly to be joined by the rest of the team. We launched our first event in March 2020 shortly followed by closing it down again in late March due to Covid. Not an auspicious start!

Unable to do what we planned, we soon became involved in the Age UK Wakefield District Bluebell Emergency Shopping Service, Wraparound and Veterans programmes, all offering some kind of telephone or shopping support.  We were very busy in the early days of the Pandemic but wanted to stay connected to our community so we developed a Wellbeing Newsletter to post out to people.  Despite the restrictions and lockdowns, we have only been out in the public arena for just a few weeks of the two years already passed on the programme.

However, we still continue to keep busy and our small but very flexible team have filled the gaps where needed and we are very proud at what we have achieved during these difficult times. We were joined by Sarah and Kay, who helped set up the Wraparound service and then by Vanda to help run Veteran’s service.  Recently one of our Time for Tea volunteers - joined the staff team as Digital Inclusion coordinator which enables people to access the online world at our Time for Tea events and at home. All of these services are present at Time for Tea events.

So, if ever you wonder what Time for Tea is all about, feel free to come along to one of our events Click here for details and join our motley crew, making Time for a cup of Tea with our many and varied visitors who rely on us to be there with a warm welcome and a big smile, to laugh and forget about our problems for a couple of hours!

Brenda Wardle Service Manager