A year after launching at St Paul’s, Parkend, the Promise and Hope bereavement café has become a valued support for people living with loss across the community.
With support from a diocesan Mission Grant, the café is now reaching even further into the community.
Led by Anne Price, a Licensed Funeral Minister, the café offers a welcoming space for conversation, companionship and understanding for bereaved people after the funeral is over.
Supported by a diocesan Mission Grant, the project has expanded its reach through local advertising, information cards and follow-up contact with bereaved families. Regular attendees and newcomers alike benefit from a relaxed environment where people can talk, listen and connect with others who understand their experiences.
“The café has really found its rhythm in the last year. We usually welcome between four and ten people per session. We have some regular attendees as well as some new faces. It’s lovely to see when a new person comes along. I think it’s starting to become an established part of the community,” Anne said.
The sessions are deliberately informal with no set programme or faith-based discussion. “People are given space to talk, reminisce, listen or simply sit with others who understand something of loss,” Anne said.
For many, there are shared connections through the Forest of Dean, with conversations often uncovering links between villages, families and memories.
“The experiences of those attending are varied,” Anne said. “Several men have lost their wives to Alzheimer’s, while others are living with different forms of bereavement. Someone doesn’t have to have died to be bereaved. One gentleman who comes has a wife with Alzheimer’s, and she has moved into care. Although his wife is still alive, he has experienced the loss of their relationship and continues to visit her.
“It gives them a place and a purpose. Each and every one of them has been through trauma.”
A regular who attends the café said: “It’s a lovely two hours and I look forward to it each month.”
Promise and Hope is also reaching people who would not normally engage with church.
“I invited a man to the café following a funeral I led as a civil celebrant. He had specifically said he did not want church-related aftercare, but accepted a leaflet and began attending. He’s come probably around eight times out of 12,” Anne said. “I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to invite people who aren’t of an active faith along.”
Mission Grant funding has paid for two large banners outside the church, advertising in ‘The Forest Bee’, and cards that Anne gives to families following funerals. She also sends a card a month or two later, offering a conversation and inviting them to the café.
“It’s been a blessing,” she said.
Anne hopes the café can eventually be trialled at All Saints, Viney Hill, the parish’s second church.
Could your church respond to a need in your community? Find out more about diocesan grants and how your church can apply by contacting the Revd Canon Dr Sandra Millar, Director of the Department of Mission and Ministry, at ku.gro.coidsolg@rallims.
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