A NEW South Reading initiative is helping residents negotiate the colder weather and rising energy prices.
Whitley Community Development Association (WCDA)’s Winter Warming Wednesdays provides residents with a warm place to stay, one of whom says the organisation saved her life.
Carol Frost, who is now a regular at the community cafe, stumbled across the Northumberland Avenue-based organisation at a particularly difficult moment.
She explained: “I lost my mum, three weeks later I lost my husband. I just stayed indoors and I cried and cried and cried.
“I came out one day and was walking past [the Whitley Community Cafe]. Somebody saw me, Lisa (WCDA’s business manager), who asked if I was alright. I told her I’d lost my mum and my husband on the anniversary of my dad’s death. I wanted to end it all.
Carol and her husband Steven had been outside clapping for the NHS when he offered to make them both a hot drink and collapsed.
Lisa assured Carol she was welcome to come to the cafe at any time, getting her a cup of tea and having a lengthy chat with her.
“If it wasn’t for Lisa, I wouldn’t be here,” she said.
After her initial visit to the WCDA, Lisa encouraged her to come again and she has been dropping in ever since, describing the people there as her ‘second family’.
The concept of Winter Warming Wednesdays came about in the wake of the UK’s energy crisis. The idea was to offer residents respite without needing to use their heating at home.
Carol explained: “I don’t put my heating on, I put a sleeping bag over me. I’m waiting for it to get a bit colder before turning on my heating because of the electricity and gas going up.
“I’ve got a hot water bottle, which was helpful the other day when my hands got cold. I’ve got three pairs of gloves.”
The first session took place on Wednesday, November 2, and will take place on a weekly basis.
Primarily targeted at over-50s, but open to all, the project officially runs from noon-2.30pm. However, organisers are encouraging people to stay at the cafe for as long as it is open.
Residents are entitled to a free soup and bread roll and can purchase a hot drink or anything else from the cafe’s menu.
Organisers are keen for visitors to build relationships with each other through conversation and activities. Carol engaged in a lengthy game of snakes and ladders with a fellow resident.
She said they were unable to finish the game as they kept landing on the snakes and had to return to the start by the time her opponent left.
The Whitley resident expressed her excitement of murmurings that walking netball might be introduced into the programme.
Carol continues to come at least once a day, occasionally even twice a day, crediting the warm nature of those who work at WCDA. She does not cook except for when her son visits on Sundays, so enjoys what the cafe has to offer.
She also praised the affordable prices and also the WCDA’s food surplus project, which gives hundreds of people access to fresh food and essential items at a fraction of the retail price.
Unlike many food banks, those using their service are not required to attend via referral, ensuring that more people can be helped with less hassle.
