Helping Hands Home Care Stroud are hosting their second 'Chatty Café' after the first one proved a great success.

The event is held to combat loneliness and help local people create stronger connections.

The second Chatty Café will take place tomorrow (Wednesday 27 April) from 2-4pm at St Laurence Church Hall in Stroud, GL5 1AP.

The church hall is wheelchair friendly and there will be hot and cold drinks and plenty of cakes available on the day.

The Chatty Café scheme was launched in 2017 to provide 'Chatter and Natter tables' in cafes where customers could sit if they were happy to talk to other customers. Now over 1,400 venues in the UK are signed up to the scheme, with Helping Hands Stroud joining cafes, pubs, libraries and hospitals to reduce loneliness and get people chatting.

The first Chatty Café was held in branch in February and was a great success.

Deborah Farrington, branch care manager, said: "There were tea and cakes galore! The company was lovely, and it was wonderful to be able to open our doors to customers who wouldn't normally leave their homes. 

"And to top it off, we received a lovely letter and postcard from our local MP Siobhan Baillie thanking us. It was a real pleasure, and we are excited about hosting in the church hall this time as it's a bigger space for more people to join."

Siobhan Baillie wrote: "Dear Deborah, I just wanted to say thank you and congratulations on holding the first chatty café at the Cornhill Centre recently. It is a wonderful facility and I wish you every success."

The second Chatty Café event in the local church hall will take place this Wednesday, with plans to host once every two months. But if the scheme proves popular in the community of Stroud, the home care team will increase it to once a month.

If you would like to find out more information about the Chatty Café in Helping Hands Stroud, please call the branch on 01453 703469 or email hvsstroud@helpinghands.co.uk