A Double Helping of Tea, Cake & Art

Aim

We want to serve a double helping of Tea, Cake & Art to more older people living with isolation or loneliness.

'It lifts my spirit to get out and meet people'

Tea, Cake & Art is a weekly social for older people who feel isolated or lonely, and who would benefit from spending time with others, making new friends through art and creativity. In times of hardship, we don't want to cut back, we want to double up and support TWICE the number of people needing connections that matter in their lives.

'I love it! The people I meet'

Tea, Cake & Art has been going non-stop since 2019, supporting participants through the pandemic, and now runs in person but still with online access. 

It includes led and self-led sessions fostering confidence and independence. Regular field trips help broaden the everyday outlook of participants.

'It's space to explore creative ideas, and some social interaction with like-minded people'

Tea, Cake & Art is friendly and inclusive, and it’s free. And in times like these when so many people struggle with high cost of living and other challenges, community engagement programmes such as Tea, Cake & Art are the first under threat. This is particularly worrying for those already excluded because of their age and health. 

We are running over-capacity now, and receive regular requests to join from more people.

We have made savings to make the best use of the resources available, and we now want to double our offer to reach 40 participants each week. The introduction of an additional session will not only allow us to reach more people but means we can also create two sessions of different character to accommodate everyone’s needs: quiet space, sociable interaction or a more suitable time in the day.

'I don't go out much. This is the only thing I go to'

Feeling isolated can have many roots - living alone, grieving, having caring responsibilities, socio-economic circumstances, anxiety, access barriers due to health - and many more. Age UK reports that 300,000 older people in England can go for a month without a conversation with family or friends. We know that this gets worse when additional factors such as increasing cost of living come into play. 

'I like how easy it is to talk to people here'

Tea, Cake & Art has a genuine and lasting beneficial effect on wellbeing. We know this from the four years we have been delivering it, and we don't want to turn people away.

This is why we would like to expand our Tea, Cake & Art offer to double our capacity and include more people on a regular basis. And we need your help to do this! Your contribution: £10, £25, £100 or any amount you wish, will go directly towards serving a double helping of Tea, Cake & Art to those who need it most.

This project successfully funded on 14th December 2023