Chieveley’s first Community Coffee Stop – a trial which will run until mid-July 2026
Here’s what Neil Courteney the Chairman of Chieveley Village Hall has to about the trial Coffee Shop which has been running since the end of May:
“The facility has been running for about one month and is undoubtedly being supported and continuing to attract new users with currently about 100 orders over every Friday through Sunday period.”
“What has become noticeable, is that we now have some regulars as well as new customers and we are
learning what works and, what doesn’t work quite so well. This is really useful as, with the trial being a period
of ten weeks, it provides us with the opportunity to adapt what we are doing and try other ideas. For instance,
when we started we thought that fresh croissants would be in high demand earlier in the day but it soon became
apparent that this was not the case – a bit of a surprise but it seems our customers appear to prefer lots of
cakes!”
“Our Chieveley resident cake maker “Sweety Pie” continues to make a superb range of very tasty morsels and on
a number of occasions now we have sold out over the weekend. And, not only are we welcoming customers to
come and enjoy a coffee and cake in the Coffee Stop (other refreshments are also available if you’re not a coffee
drinker), but there is also a fairly constant stream of take-away customers – which is fantastic. Notably, we have been particularly well supported by the Quackers Nursery in the village – so a big thank you to everyone who
works there for your custom.”
“Other groups that are beginning to try out the Coffee Stop include cycling clubs and a few walkers, and of course
many of the hall activities’ weekly users are also now our regulars as well.
So, if you haven’t tried the Chieveley Community Coffee Stop yet, what are you waiting for? Seriously, this facility
is for all of us and it would be great to make it a permanent addition to our village so do come and give it a try
and leave us your valued feedback on what you like about it and further thoughts on how it could be improved.”
“I’d like to take the opportunity to the forty or so volunteers (see pics above) who have risen to the challenge and
tirelessly devoted their time to the Coffee Stop trial.”
“Lastly, we are now accepting entries for our Photo Competition until the 5th of July so if you haven’t entered
yet you still have time to submit your photo that captures a scene from this beautiful North Wessex Downs area.
Judging will be by the Coffee Stop visitors so please send your entries to: chieveleyvillagehall@gmail.com as
soon as you can.”