We visited Crossroads Community Café to check in with some of its members.
Our store manager, Adele, and I took along a birthday cake to celebrate 10 years of the Asda Community programme and spent a very enjoyable hour chatting with the group.
Over the 10 years since the programme launched, both Crossroads and Restore Church, where the group meets, have received funding from the Asda Foundation. In fact, Ian Evans who leads the group is a long-time friend of the store as he was one of the first connections that our store made in the local community when he used to manage Boston Food Bank. The group's doors are always open to new members who are looking to get out and make new friends in a relaxed, informal setting to help prevent loneliness. Our connection to other people and our community is fundamental to protecting our mental health and we need to find better ways of tackling the epidemic of loneliness. The Crossroads Community Café plays such an important role in helping to make these connections for local people.
– Stephen, Asda community champion
