A new community café which opened at Much Birch Village Hall on Saturday, May 18th attracted more than 100 people including a group of cyclists who happened to be passing.

Social Fabric, a group of friends from the Much Birch area, hosted the very first Community Café as part of the fourth England-wide Community Business Weekend.

Held to celebrate the work of the 8,000 community businesses across England, Community Business Weekend offers a unique opportunity for local people to visit and see how they can get involved in this growing movement.

Rebecca Semple from Social Fabric said: “We were thrilled by the attendance for the first Community Café with just over 100 people across two and a half hours. And not just people from the immediate local area – we even managed to attract a cycling team that was passing by in the midst of a four-day excursion from Essex to Newport. It was also great to see such a wide range of ages come through the door for everything we had on offer, from the all-important coffee, cake and bacon sandwiches to the table tennis, board games and crafts. Most importantly for us, it was great to offer an opportunity for people to get together and enjoy each other’s company. And although being part of the wider Community Business Weekend celebrations was a great occasion to launch Community Café, the plan for Social Fabric is to build on the success of this first event and provide regular opportunities to strengthen community links and provide relaxed and fun events for all ages.”

The next Social Fabric Community Café will take place on June 8th. To find out more email [email protected].See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.