New Dibden Purlieu coffee shop opens at care home

A new coffee shop at a Dibden Purlieu residential home will open to the public once a week.

Customers at the cafe at Little Haven in Beaulieu Road can chat with residents who have been missing our on company since the pandemic. It will open every Wednesday between 12noon and 4pm, but booking is required.

The facility will also be offering free tea, coffee and a slice of cake to emergency service personnel including police officers, firefighters and ambulance workers, who are welcome any time.

Opened by Steve Erskine, chair of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the coffee shop is also available for hire by organisations like local church groups.

Jamie Young, marketing manager of The Wilverley Association which runs the residential home and cafe, said: “Our residents could not get out to visit coffee shops during Covid times and they really miss that.

“We thought it would be nice to create a space for them with that coffee shop feel, where they could meet and chat together and with others.

“We’ve invited the emergency services to drop in as a thank you for what they do.”

The charity’s other coffee shop at Forest Oaks residential home in Brockenhurst will also open to the public on Wednesdays between 12noon and 4pm.