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Chance to volunteer at popular Norwich church cafe

St Stephen's Café in Norwich city centre is springing back to life for the summer and is in need of more enthusiastic volunteers to help serve its many and varied customers.


Vicar Rev Canon Madeline Light said: “The Cafe at St Stephen's is now almost back to the levels of customers that we had in 2019 – before we were hit like everyone else by the Covid lockdowns.
 
“Like everyone we have had a strange couple of years. We were fortunate to have some rainy day money which we needed to use to keep our overheads covered. We are not a business so didn't qualify for business help but we were very grateful for the furlough money to help pay staff. We kept and paid all our staff.
 
“The financial pressures were the downside of the pandemic for us alongside the concern for many people who found lockdown hard. However we have learned many things during this time. In 2019, our popularity with customers was making being a volunteer in the Cafe sometimes very hard work. As we have come out of lockdown we have simplified the menu and considered how to make our kitchen operation as streamlined as possible,” said Madeline.
 
“It is a delight to see the church full again with such a variety of people who choose to come because they enjoy the peace, reasonable prices, home cooked food or play areas for young children.”
 
But many of the café’s previous volunteers have had to stop or have retired and now it needs more help.
 
“There are lots of jobs to be done, such as managing the dishwasher, collecting plates, managing the till or making drinks,” said Madeline. “The team is a happy friendly bunch of people from many different walks of life and the managers care well for the volunteers. We pray before each session and look after each other so together we express the love of Jesus to the customers.”
 
If you are interested in helping out, please contact Beckie Ward, Cafe manager at beckie.ward@ststephensnorwich.org or ring the church office on 01603 617697
 
www.ststephensnorwich.org
 
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