‘Café with a conscience’ gets chatty

Thursday 08 August 2019

Beresford Street Kitchen, “the café with a conscience” set up to provide opportunities for people with learning disabilities, has joined a scheme that aims to reduce loneliness by getting people chatting.

Two 'Chatter & Natter' tables have been installed in the café for customers to sit at if they want a slice of human interaction with their hot drink.

Georgie Dodd, Fundraising Manager, said BSK decided to join the Chatty Café Scheme after reading an article about it in the Telegraph. 

Pictured: Alexandra Hoskyn launched the 'Chatty Café' scheme in 2017.

The scheme was launched in 2017 by Alexandra Hoskyn on “a wet and windy day.” Feeling fed up whilst in a supermarket café with her four-month old son, who wasn’t great company, Ms Hoskyn saw an elderly lady “who looked just as down as me and on another table sat a young guy with additional needs and his support worker both looking like they had run out of conversation!”  

The experience she explained made her think about “the positive impact we could have had on each other if we had sat together.

“I know from experience that when you are feeling lonely, a short conversation with another human can really brighten your day and I realised that you can be out of the house all day yet have no interaction with another person,” Ms Hoskyn said. 

Pictured: Two of BSK's employees at the ‘Chatter & Natter’ table. 

There are now over 900 cafés with a ‘Chatter & Natter’ table and Beresford Street Kitchen has just added its name to the list. 

Beresford Street Kitchen branched out into printing last year with the opening of a dedicated workshop and retail shop. 

Combined, the two outlets employ over 50 people, enabling them to gain practical experience in a wide range of catering and hospitality operations including customer service skills, barista skills and food preparation, as well as printing. 

All the money generated through sales in the café and workshop goes back into the charity - and the more money BSK raises, the more positions they can offer.

Video: Inside Beresford Street Kitchen printing workshop with Charlotte, Heidi and Ryan.

With its two ‘chatty’ tables – recognizable by the purple sign that states the seats are “for customers happy to talk to other customers” – BSK is hoping to extend a helping hand to those who feel lonely. 

Describing the scheme as “fantastic,” Mrs Dodd said the café wanted to make the scheme work in the island.

“It’s such a wonderful scheme. BSK is all about inclusion and this takes it beyond the inclusion of people with learning disabilities, it’s extending it to absolutely anyone and everyone.” 

“There are a lot of people that feel quite lonely,” Mrs Dodd added. “This scheme matches perfectly with our ethos. The more people that get involved, the more it will just become the norm to walk in to a cafe and see a 'chatter and natter' table.”