Hope 08 Belper

Hope Cafe launched on the evening of Sunday 30 March and will now continue to take place weekly, from 7-9 each Sunday in the Salvation Army Hall, Belper Market Place.

Although the impetus for this project came originally from David Howarth of the Sally Army, it ties in very much with Hope 08’s vision for new forms of outreach and the Belper steering group were very pleased to give it their backing.

I went along to the first session and I have to say I was really impressed with the amount of thought that David and Jan Howarth had put into it - in terms of the content, the ambience, the music and of course the coffee!

Overall I thought it struck a really nice balance - it managed to be thought-provoking without being threatening, and relaxed and informal without being chaotic or directionless.

In addition the Salvation Army Hall is an ideal venue - it’s the right sort of size and its central location is a real asset to a project like this. It will be really interesting to see how it develops over the coming months as word gets round of its existence.

Hope Cafe is also being supported by the St Peter’s “Refresh” group which has been meeting fortnightly at St Swithun’s Church and which decided to team up with Hope Cafe for Sunday’s event. It would be great to see other Belper congregations giving it their support.

Paul Linford