Lord Mayor of Plymouth Cllr Sue Dann and her husband consort Alderman Chris Mavin paid a visit to the Harewood House Coffee Bar to meet volunteers there and to see the recent refurbishments to the bar.
They spent some time chatting to Plympton Litter Pickers who were running the coffee bar on the day of their visit and also customers who had dropped in for a lunchtime snack.
The Harewood Coffee Bar plays an important role in reducing social isolation as people are able to come along and meet others in the comfort of the Alf Wright Lounge, and partake in reasonably priced refreshments with hot drinks starting at 60p and sandwiches normally priced at under £2.
Different charitable groups and volunteer organisations run the bar each week to raise funds for their own cause or other worthy causes selected by them.
As well as serving refreshments the Plympton Litter Pickers operated a prize draw, tombola and bric-a-brac stall. They also sold knitted poppies for the benefit of the Royal British Legion.
The Plympton Litter Pickers’ week at the coffee bar proved a huge success. A spokesperson for the group said:
“Plympton Litter Pickers would like to once again thank anyone that donated, bought, ate, drank and supported them during the coffee bar week. Much appreciated. We are excited to be able to report we raised over £1500! An amazing total in this difficult economic time and it was marvelous to see Harewood House full of local people; the atmosphere was really lovely.”
Groups normally hire the coffee bar out for complete weeks, but bookings for part weeks will be considered for groups who may not be able to muster the resources to do an entire week. The coffee bar is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 2pm. Anyone interested in making a booking to run it should call Nikki Chinner on 01752 962764 or e-mail n.chinner@sky.com . Groups hiring the coffee bar should normally be involved in community activities which benefit the residents of Plympton. The coffee bar is often booked up for several months in advance.
Refurbishments have now started on the ladies toilet at Harewood House with the disabled one doubling up for others to use while this work goes on.
(Story courtesy of the Plympton Podcast)
