Our St Albans Compassionate Cafés

About our Cafés

Rennie Grove Peace’s Compassionate Cafés are drop-in sessions in a local venue or with a local partner. They provide a space for members of our community who have been affected by any type of loss and would like to come along for a friendly chat and a chance to meet others over a cup of tea.

There is no need to book, so please just come along. 

Who is this service intended for? Anyone affected by loss or loneliness

Where? We've partnered with various venues across St Albans

When is this service available? Various - please see timetable below for list of locations and timings

Our St Albans Cafés

We’re grateful to have teamed up with some fantastic partners & cafés around St Albans to host our Compassionate Café sessions. Each one of our partners has been carefully picked, as they offer a relaxed environment to have a cuppa and a chat if you’ve experienced any kind of loss.

We understand that it can feel a bit overwhelming to meet a group of strangers and discuss something so personal, but please know that our Compassionate Community is here to support you. After taking that first step, we’ve found that many people feel a sense of relief and become comfortable enough to attend regularly.

All of our St Albans cafés are dog-friendly, so feel free to bring your furry friend along for additional support (human friends are also welcome!).

Where you’ll find us

Compassionate Café	Facilities and costs	Address	Day/time
Cottonmill Community Café with Leeanna's Wish	Free refreshments. Dog friendly	Cottonmill Community & Cycling Centre, Cottonmill Lane, St. Albans, AL1 2EF	Last Tuesday, 12:00pm-1:30pm. From May will be 10:30am-12.30pm
Cross Street Café with Dagnall St. Church	Refreshments for sale. Dog friendly	Cross Street Centre, 1 Cross Street Café, Cross St, St Albans, AL3 5EE	2nd Thursday, 10:00am-11:30am
Jersey Farm Café with Ridgeway Church	Refreshments donations based. Dog friendly	Jersey Farm Café, Jersey Farm Community Centre, 3 St. Brelades Pl, St Albans, AL4 9RG	2nd Friday, 2:30pm-4:00pm
St Saviours Cafe with St Saviours Church	Refreshments free. Dog friendly	St Saviours Church Hall, Sandpit Lane, St Albans, AL1 4DF	2nd Tuesday, 2:00pm-3:30pm
Café on the Corner with Camphill Village Trust	Refreshments for sale. Dog friendly	39 Catherine Street, St Albans, AL3 5BJ	3rd Saturday, 10:30am-12:00pm

By:

offering a safe and welcoming space for people to come together
offering friendship, emotional support and a listening ear
helping people connect with their local community
providing information, guidance and signposting to available services

A volunteer-led service, tailored to what is needed in the local community.

Enquire now

If you or a family member would like to know more about Compassionate Cafés, please drop in or contact the Compassionate Communities team on 01923 33 03 30 or click the link below.

Enquire now

Like all Rennie Grove Peace services, our Compassionate Cafés are offered free of charge (some costs for refreshments). We can only deliver the services thanks to the generosity of the local community and the volunteers involved.

If you’d like to make a donation to support our services, you can do that here.

Make a donation

Our Compassionate Communities Group volunteers offer their companionship, time, social and emotional support to people towards the end of life due to age or illness and/or people who are suffering with a loss, in a group setting like a Compassionate Support Hub and/or Compassionate Café.

Enquire about volunteering

"Thank you all for your care, kindness and understanding, I don't know how I would have got through the early days of my husband's passing without you, so thank you for being there for me."

"Without doubt, the Compassionate Café made such a positive difference to me. It was wonderful to meet like-minded people who understood what I was going through and gave me the space to talk about how I was feeling, and where I could share my memories and my experiences. I feel I have now gained a renewed sense of purpose and structure in my life, and I am in a much better place than a few months ago – I’m now even looking at volunteering myself”