Cara Coffee is open 5 days a week (Tuesday to Saturday) and provides a welcome space for people to enjoy coffee, cakes and food, and meet with or make friends.  

The word Cara means ‘friend’ in Gaelic and in Latin it carries several meanings including ‘valued’ or ‘beloved’.

 
 
Julie Whitbread, Cara Coffee’s Manager, shares about the vital role played by volunteers:

"We have 26 volunteers across the week, aged between 15 and 75 years of age. Nine volunteers have been with us since we first opened in 2019. 
 
Some volunteers do a regular slot either morning/lunch/afternoon; others help to fill in gaps in the rota. Most people don't do more than once per week, but swap when necessary. 
 
We have a small group of young people who give up their Saturday mornings to volunteer.  Although unpaid, they enjoy gaining valuable experience in interacting with the public, using money skills when serving at the till and learning barista skills (over 16s). Some are completing the volunteer section of their Duke of Edinburgh award, with more students on the waiting list. 
 
We are also blessed with a large contingent of recently retired volunteers who find volunteering for a morning or afternoon per week really helpful when making that adjustment to retirement. Others volunteer to gain confidence before going back to paid work.   
 
We don't ask for any prior coffee shop experience, but we do ask that volunteers are keen to learn new skills in either using the coffee machine, preparing light snacks or serving at the till, and that they are friendly and welcoming.   
 
The cafe can get quite busy, so volunteers need to work in a fast-paced environment as well as adapting to slower, quieter times.  
 
We are always looking for new volunteers as inevitably volunteers move on to paid work or to pursue other commitments.  Full training is given. "

Currently, we are looking for volunteers who can offer a Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon (12.30-4.30pm. But we would love to hear from anyone interested in finding out more.  Please contact [email protected].