Sunrise Café – A Community Café for Dover welcoming everyone!

Who does not need food, conversation and a sense of belonging that comes from taking part? This lies behind a new initiative in DoverSunrise Cafe.

Dover Town Council got behind the new Sunrise Community Café with a £5,000 grant at the recent meeting of the Civic and Special Projects Committee. The café is the latest venture for the Dover Outreach Centre Charity which aims to give those who find themselves homeless a route back into a better life. The latest grant adds to over £38,000 of grants given in the past few years as the charity works to become self-sustaining.

Radna Pam Brivio, Chair of the Civic and Special projects Committee reported the grant to the full meeting of the Town Council and said

We are delighted to give this grant to this new approach bringing everyone together, sharing good food and giving those who need it a helping hand out of food poverty.

The new community café is now open, based in the former Seafarers Centre, 168-172 Snargate Street, Dover. Professionally run and with a focus on ensuring those who need assistance get support and nourishing hot meals for themselves and their families it offers a warm welcome to everyone. A “pay what you can” model is in place and the menu has price tiers – full price, a price for those on benefits and for those with no access to benefits, – so that everyone “pays what they can”.

A voucher system/pay it forward scheme is also planned so that members of the public can donate and gift meals for others so that no one goes hungry. Meals can be subsidised or upgraded using the voucher scheme, free meals can be provided for those who have no source of income and no means of cooking themselves a hot meal. Sunrise is keen to reach out to families and individuals in need of support and will therefore be tailoring different services to suit all of their customers. Full paying customers will be helping others in a constructive way.

The cafe will also offer work, training and volunteering opportunities to support people, building skills and confidence.

From the work carried out with charities, agencies and other organisations it is evident that Dover has many areas with a high percentage of disadvantaged individuals and families facing financial challenges. Many do not work and are struggling to manage on the benefits they receive. Also, there are those with no recourse to public funds, rough sleepers and homeless in general (sofa surfers) who will benefit from this initiative.

Sunrise Café would love you to keep up to date with their activities by following their page on Facebook and on Instagram @sunrisecafedover. They would be delighted to receive any donations or offers of support. Do please get in touch with them! (Sunrise Café, 168-172 Snargate Street, Dover, CT17 9BZ – Telephone 01304 339022 -E-mail sunrisecafe@doveroutreachcentre.com).

Our picture shows the Town Mayor, Councillor Gordon Cowan at the formal opening of the Sunrise Cafe.