The Spoon and Ladle Afternoon Tea Club
THE NEED
In late 2016, the Age Friendly Burnage board were approached by a local resident who wanted to establish an afternoon tea group aimed at older customers. The lady in question had exactly the right experience to launch such an enterprise as she had previously worked as a professional chef. The Spoon and Ladle was born!
THE SOLUTION
The board initially funded a one off event in order to launch the project, generate local interest and attract people to join the group. After talking to local residents, it was decided to host it at Kingsburn Hall, a church community centre close to where a large number of older residents lived. Being so close by, the centre was particularly convenient for people to get to, as opposed to other venues in Burnage which had previously proved to be situated too far away for older people to get to on foot.
WHAT'S GOT BETTER
The Spoon and Ladle group continued to meet up after the launch event, attracting up to 20 older residents per week. It was able to continue functioning thanks to donations and the sale of baked goods at local markets. Although there were discussions about the possibility of charging an attendance fee, the project lead felt that doing this might disadvantage the people who would benefit the most from coming along to the group.
LEARNING
While working with the Spoon and Ladle we saw that providing funding could achieve much - and, additionally, that ensuring there was an element of financial guidance could ensure longevity and . These days, a regular club is now well established, with its initial success leading to the introduction of successful long term self-funding strategies. This means tht more and more older people can benefit from coming to group meetings, make new friends and connect with their community.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Spoon and Ladle has recently catered an event for Age Friendly Burnage hosted at the offices of Southway Housing Trust. Southway were so impressed by the service provided that they added the club to their suppliers' list for future events. It is hoped that by generating more revenue streams such as this, that self funding can continued to be generated on an ongoing basis.
CONTACT
Mark Hammond
MAFN Project Coordinator, General Enquiries