Braunstone Town Mayors Charity Fund
The Town Mayors theme for the year is “Tackling Loneliness” and her yearly charity fundraising will go towards and raise money to directly tackle social isolation within the community “right here right now”.
"Whilst thinking about my year ahead, I just wanted to do something different and HERE, RIGHT HERE in the community – I want to raise money for RIGHT HERE….the reason being I visited a community group, as Deputy Mayor. It was a group set up each Friday at Shakespeare pavilion and I met the most wonderful group of people crocheting, doing jigsaws, reading and chatting away together. One lady told me that she hadn’t spoken to anybody for 10 days. This sent shivers down my spine, and we all in the group chatted and chatted to her and we literally brightened her day…I knew then that my theme for this year had to be…Tackling loneliness."
One of the Town Mayors first initiatives in order to tackle social isolation in Braunstone Town and Thorpe Astley is to work with local groups and organisations in order to provide “Chatty Café’s”.
A little about Chatty Cafes:
The Chatty Café Scheme is the UK’s leading non-profit organisation tackling loneliness. Participating venues offer ‘Chatter & Natter’ tables, a Chatter & Natter table creates a space for people to talk; whether it is for five minutes while you drink a brew, or an hour of good conversation. It's not about building friendships – just simple interactions to combat loneliness and to just maybe have a big impact on someone’s day. Although the aims of the scheme are to reduce loneliness and get people chatting the scheme does not use the word loneliness on any publications. Instead it is very positive and focuses on bringing people of all ages and from all walks of life together.
"We know there are people in our community who are lonely and isolated, particularly following the Covid-19 pandemic. My aim this year through Chatty Café’s will be to reach them and give them the confidence to participate in the wide variety of activities and proactive community groups which make our community a friendly and vibrant place to live. I hope to bring together 4 venues by July.” - Tracey Shepherd, Braunstone Town Mayor 2023-2024.
The Chatty Cafe UK Scheme is ran by local voluneteers within the community. If this sounds like something you would be ineterested in within Braunstone Town or Thorpe Astley please dont hesitate to get in touch via email here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To read more about the Chatty Cafe Scheme or to find a local participating venue please click here: Chatty Cafe Scheme UK
