Meet Up Monday scheme welcomes new venue

A scheme that aims to tackle loneliness in the Braintree District is celebrating the addition of a new venue in Great Bardfield.

Meet up Mondays, which have been running in the district for over a year, now have seven venues thanks to the addition of The Bell Inn in Great Bardfield.

The Bell Inn will be holding a ‘Meet up Thursday’ from the 6th February running every Thursday 10am-12pm.

Meet up Mondays is a weekly meet up for people who want to meet and chat to new people, venues offer free tea or coffee and a place to sit and chat for a couple of hours. As well as Mondays, there are Meet Up Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays running across the district.

After launching in October 2018 at Coffee House in the Gardens, Braintree District Council has managed to recruit pubs and cafes to join the scheme across the district in Witham, Bocking, Black Notley, Cornish Hall End, Castle Hedingham and now Great Bardfield.

Cllr Peter Tattersley, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing said:

“Loneliness is a huge issue affecting the country at the moment, emotional wellbeing is just as important as physical wellbeing and initiatives like this provide a vital lifeline to our residents that feel isolated.”

Cllr Frankie Ricci, Cabinet Member for Communities said:

“The Meet Up Mondays across the district have proved popular for residents and helped provide an option for those facing social isolation and loneliness who might struggle to get out and socialise with people. We have aimed to get businesses on board, particularly in rural areas, to ensure we can make this accessible to as many residents as possible. We always

welcome new businesses to join the scheme and provide tea, coffee and marketing material to help get them set up.”

Businesses within the Braintree district who are interested in running their own Meet up Monday Event can contact Kryshia Fuller at [email protected] or 01376 552525.

Find out more about other Meet up Mondays venues in the Braintree district and across Essex by visiting the livewell website www.livewellcampaign.co.uk

You are able to keep up to date with our articles, news and publications by following us on our social media channels below: