The Well Church is a registered charity founded in Ansdell in 1904 and is extremely active in community support and involvement including toddler groups, youth groups, lunch clubs and arts and crafts classes.
The Well Community Café in Blackpool and St Annes regularly serves over 30 people each week. They offer a freshly cooked meal, a safe environment, a friendly welcome and the opportunity to chat with volunteers if needed. The volunteers regularly signpost to local support services such as the Fylde foodbank, GP’s and rehab facilities should visitors not be aware of these.
With the lockdown measures introduced due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent social distancing requirements that continue, the team at The Well Church looked for a way to continue to provide essential food, drink and advice to some of the most vulnerable in the community, which is when the Pop-Up Well Café idea was born.
Sandwiches are prepared by a team of 4 adhering to social distancing and extra hygiene measures to support the reduction in the transmission of the virus. The food is then transferred to the church’s minibus which is taken out by a separate team to various locations.
Another longstanding community café Wesley’s has also introduced ‘Wesley’s Larder’ which sits alongside the pop-up café providing food donated from local supermarkets free of charge to any of the guests who visit. This is the first collaborative project of its kind in Fylde providing the essentials to the vulnerable in the community.
Chris Webb said: “It was great to meet the Well Café team in St Annes along with Sam Osbourne who is one of Our Lancashire Community Engagement Officers and see first-hand and the amazing work the Well Café is doing across Blackpool and the Fylde.
This innovative idea to provide a mobile café and larder with the help of the Lancashire Community Foundation’s COVID-19 community support fund is helping hundreds of people in need a week.
There work in the local community is invaluable and I look forward to working with them more closely alongside Our Lancashire.”
