by Stacey Marriott – Night Light Cafe Manager

I recently googled the pointy things that are growing out of my cheese plant and discovered that they are called ‘aerial roots’ and grow to latch on to other plants to give support to the cheese plant as it grows. Wow! The cheese plant by design develops its own support structure. How cleverly created.

with Pam Jenkinson and Dean Bell

The Night Light Cafe team are very excited to recently employ three new members of staff. Two will oversee the running of our Countywide cafes in the North and South of Lincolnshire. Another member of staff will support them both as a Project Worker. Dean Bell, has become our Network Lead for the South of Lincolnshire and I chatted with him about his new role:-

by Michelle Russell – Night Light Project Worker

Volunteering for a project like the Night Light Cafe, can be a really rewarding thing to do. But sometimes it can be quite daunting not knowing what the process will be like and how it works. So, I spoke with our Project Worker, Pam Jenkinson, who coordinates the new volunteer’s for our cafes.

by Kerry Robinson – Assistant Coordinator for Night Light Cafe

I met up with one of our lovely team leaders – Emma to ask them about their experience of leading a Night Light Cafe.

by Pam Jenkinson – Night Light Cafe Project Worker

The Night Light Cafes are an out of hours, non-clinical support service for people who are struggling with their mental health. These safe spaces are hosted by teams of trained volunteers, who provide a warm welcome alongside a listening service and signposting advice.

But what does it look like inside our cafes? What would you expect to see?

by Stacey Marriott – Night Light Cafe Coordinator

The Night Light Cafe staff team has recently grown as we welcomed Kerry to the team at the start of August in the role of Assistant Night Light Cafe Coordinator. We thought an interview with Kerry would provide a great opportunity for you all to get to know her a little better!

by Pam Jenkinson – Night Light Project Worker

One of our wonderful volunteers Fran is planning to embark on a quest to help raise funds for the Night Light Cafe. He’s doing a sponsored bike ride from Lincoln to Louth and back to Lincoln. Up and down those Wolds (rather him than us!). I asked Fran some questions about why he has chosen to do this challenge for Night Light

by Stacey Marriott – Night Light Cafe Coordinator

The Night Light Cafes are part of the NHS Transformation programme for Lincolnshire. But what does that mean?

In the Night Light cafes, and indeed in my everyday life, I often have conversations with people who have felt let down by ‘the system’ when it comes to their mental health. They may have been told they are not poorly enough to receive support, or even too poorly to receive the support they have tried to access. With long waiting lists and overstretched staff teams, the NHS have received a lot of bad press over the years and when people feel let down by the organisation who is meant to be helping them this can be detrimental to their already diminished mental health. 

By Pam Jenkinson – Night Light Café Project Worker

When the first COVID lockdown hit, I am not going to lie, there was a part of me that let out a sigh of relief. Being an introverted person, the idea of not having to socialise and having my small family unit consistently close to me, felt like bliss. However, what has become increasingly upsetting to me is hearing stories of others, who actually found lockdown exhausting. Many had additional work pressures put on them due to their job role, alongside having to juggling home schooling and limited house space to work.  Where I had rested, they had to push through with high demands put upon them and subsequently not stopped or had any recovery time since; they had experienced burnout. 

by Stacey Marriott – Night Light Café Coordinator

We recently interviewed Rae and Alan, who volunteer at the Birchwood Night Light Cafe. Here is what they had to say!

Tell us a little bit about yourselves and how you first heard about the Night Light cafe:

Rae: I am the secretary of Churches Together in Hykeham and Swallowbeck and enjoy keeping in touch with the church’s members. We have a monthly prayer time as Churches Together and when the Night Light cafes were first introduced to Churches in Lincoln, we made them a topic for prayer.

Alan: I presently work voluntarily with the Salvation Army with their Homeless project, having worked with the homeless and rootless in London, Preston and Lincoln.

Along with the above I support my wife with the care of lady with learning difficulties who lives in her independent accommodation and am involved in a city-wide prayer movement.

I learnt about Night Light cafes from the coordinator at a prayer meeting for Churches Together.