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Southport's Salvation Army and Co-Op
"brewing up" to beat social isolation
A bid to beat social isolation by The Salvation Army
in Southport and The Co-Op has become a regular fixture in the calendar
after "brewing-up" interest among members of the community.
Hosted at The Salvation Army's Shakespeare Street centre and run in
partnership with the Southport Co-operative Local Forum and the Co-Op food
store in St James Place, "Afternoon Tea" has conversation and
companionship on the menu for members of the community who experience
loneliness or social isolation.
With more than 40 people attending the inaugural event, Afternoon Tea will
now take place monthly with the next meeting to be held from 1:30pm to
2:30pm, on Thursday, 10 March 2016. Refreshments are provided by The
Co-operative Food.
Sally McCann, Community Pioneer at The Co-Op's St James Place store; who
created the initiative, said:- "Loneliness affects people all around
us, people of all ages and backgrounds and in all types of communities. In
fact, a cheery chat in the local Co-op can be the only conversation that
some people in our community have all day, and so we were keen to explore
ways in which we could help to address this."
Major Chris Davidson, leader of The Salvation Army in Southport said:-
"We are delighted with the level of interest in this initiative; The
Salvation Army offers events, services and support to meet the needs of the
community and we are pleased to have teamed up with The Co-Op. The Co-Op is
a community retailer and a co-operative and, by working together, we can
make a difference and help to address this issue in order to benefit the
lives and well being of people living locally."
Members of the community wanting to contribute suggestions for ways in which
the Southport Co-operative Local Forum can help in the local community can contact Co-Op Member Pioneer Frank Hanley by emailing:-
frank.hanley65@gmail.com. |
