Caf'Active - July 2020
It is with great sorrow that we have taken the decision to close the church café ‘Caf’ Active’ at St Michael and All Angels Church in Spencer’s Wood for the foreseeable future. The COVID19 pandemic has affected many small businesses and charities and unfortunately this closure is a direct casualty of the situation we find ourselves in. Were we to open the café, we would have to operate at a reduced capacity, and it would not be financially viable given the cost of the overheads. Added to this is the increased demands on staffing. Many of the café’s volunteers may now feel too vulnerable to continue to wish to volunteer. There are also new hygiene procedures which must be adhered to, particularly in terms of frequent and regular cleaning of all areas, including toilets, which is a prerequisite of our risk assessment for re-opening. As a committee we considered every possible way to keep the café open and have not taken the decision to close it lightly.
Our deepest regret is in having to make our wonderful café manager, Debbie Johnson-Waite, redundant. Debbie has been furloughed since the lockdown period and we have been making up the shortfall to ensure she has received full wages during this time. She has been an inspiration to both the café and the church community, and we have all been blessed by her cheerful nature, delicious food and positive outlook on life. We are supporting her in any way we can throughout her redundancy and wish her every success in the future. She will be greatly missed and we will always be thankful for the tremendous amount of work she has put in to making the café a success over the past ten years.
Understandably this closure will have an impact on the community who have supported it for many years. We sincerely pray for better times in the future when we hope to be able to welcome you back to church services soon.
St Michael's PCC
St Michael's Team
Together with the ministry team we have a hard-working group of volunteers to keep the church running smoothly and to lead our People's Praise services, PCCs, fêtes, fayres, art shows, social evenings, bring-and-share lunches – fun and laughter. Some of our team members are shown below...

To Be Advised,
Churchwarden

Susan Little,
Cafe Bookings & PCC

Emily Goodhand,
Asst Churchwarden
07746 308222

Kate Mitchell,
PCC Secretary

Debbie Johnson-Wait,
Café Manager &
Asst. Verger

Sue Butler,
Events
Coordinator

Margaret Baker,
Verger

Ian Bate,
Treasurer
...plus numerous other volunteers