In 2015 myself and my husband, Steve, started Stennetts Community Café in Trimley, a pop up café supporting adults with learning disabilities to be part of their local community, in normal times on Tuesdays we bake the cakes and prepare the vegetables, and on Wednesday and Thursday we run a pop up café from The Victoria Hall Pavilion on Stennetts Field in Trimley.
Since March 2020 we have not been able to run the café as a café due to COVID-19, and we had to close our doors initially to both the public and our café team. On 26th March 2020 (our 15th wedding anniversary) I started a Facebook group called Stennetts Community Café Cooking For Fun, the initial idea was to cook or share a recipe everyday as a way for our café team to keep in touch with each other, I would sit at home and cook a favourite café recipe and share it in a live Facebook post. I left the group open so anyone could join and soon had people other than the café team join the group. Today we have over 420 members from all over the world, as well as Trimley!!!
What started as a bit of fun has helped me through lockdown. I have to be awake and showered ready to cook, I have to have ingredients ready to cook and an idea of what I am cooking!! It has given me focus and fun, I love it when people comment during the live cooking and when they post pictures in the group of things that they have cooked either following a recipe I have demonstrated or suggesting ideas of what I could cook.
I try and keep the recipes as simple as possible so anyone can have a go and I also often try and adapt the recipe for home schooling, pointing out ways you can turn the cooking session into a lesson or extend the learning, It’s a fun way to learn and hopefully helps people who are struggling with home learning.
We have had theme weeks, leading up to Fathers Day we had edible gift week. We have had canape week using up leftovers and food waste week, and even Chinese New Year week to name a few.
From time to time, we have asked our followers to nominate someone for a baked treat that we can make and deliver, we made a lemon cake for David Button Funeral Directors, flap jacks for Trimley Vets, a sponge cake for a mum who was feeling a bit fed up, cupcakes for the nurses at the surgery, a cup cake decorating kit for residents of a local care home, are a few of the folks nominated.
We were supposed to have had a fundraising coffee morning at the café on March 26th in aid of Mary’s meals. I am the current World Porridge Making Champion, the holder of the Golden Spurtle which I won in October 2019 and we were going to hold a porridge event. Hamlyns of Scotland had given us lots of lovely Oaty goodies but we had to cancel due to covid, this made me really sad and so in May leading up to my birthday we had porridge week!! During the course of the week I cooked lots of oat based recipes and people sent donations in exchange for flapjacks, tea towels, aprons, spurtles and also took part in a raffle to win a mega porridge hamper. We did the draw on my birthday and made over £700!! Much more than we would have done if we had held the event at the café!!
In September held a Macmillan week and again raised a good amount for the charity.
For VE day 75 we cooked wartime recipes and had a massive Jam Giveaway so people could have an old fashioned jar of jam on their VE day 75 afternoon tea scones!! I think we gave away nearly 100 jars of homemade jam and marmalade, all from a box outside our home!!
I did not think that my cooking at home and sharing on Facebook would have much effect, apart from the way it kept me going, however people started telling me how much they enjoyed it and how it helped them!! That really made me feel very humble, grateful and joyful.
I have always volunteered for things, I was a Brownie Guider for 20 years and have been a member of Felixstowe Lions for almost 20 years. My mum did lots of things for other people and when she passed away I became involved with Felixstowe Friendly Visiting Service, taking older people out on coach trips each month. During the pandemic, due to my health conditions I have not been able to help other people as I would like to and so hearing that my cooking group is enjoyed and helps people has been amazing.
I was very honored and proud to receive an award “Parish Praise” from Trimley St Mary Parish council for both the café and then one for the cooking group. Last month I was again very honored to receive a “Making a Difference Award” from BBC Radio Suffolk.
I love cooking and really enjoy making the videos, some recipes are planned and some I make up on the day, it keeps me on my toes. Yesterday I made a cake for my dad’s birthday and today I made some fish platters that we will have for dinner later... tomorrow who knows!!!
I think I have become a bit addicted to my Facebook videos!! I don’t think I will be able to stop making the videos, but maybe just cut them down to not every day when we are back to the new normal!! Who knows!! I am enjoying what I do at the moment and at the end of the day I guess that’s all that anyone can hope for. The videos are helping me through Covid and I am delighted they are helping others.
The group is open to all so have a look, there are lots of recipes in the files and several videos (!!!) and see of you fancy joining us.
Best wishes and stay safe
Lisa xx