We are very excited to tell you that The Rural Coffee Caravan has won the European Social Services Award for Sevice Delivery!
We are so proud to have been chosen as the winner of this special award and we would like to say a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to everyone who kindly voted for us and to say how much we really appreciate it. Take a look at the East Anglian Daily Times article
This year, the Rural Coffee Caravan has been a constituted group for 20 years
(becoming a full charity in 2008).
During that time, we have grown from one little caravan and one part time project manager making about 15 visits a year – to 4 vehicles, 7 staff, and a multitude of volunteers making around 400* visits a year with 4 extra networks across all aspects of community.
We believe that loneliness is everyone’s business and that involving both voluntary and commercial elements of community life help to make sure no one is left behind.
Can you help us keep the wheels turning?
We have reached a critical point financially. Although we were fortunate recipients of a National Lottery grant over the next four years, this only represents a third of our income. We still must find £150k each year to survive.
It could be by individuals saving 20ps, coffee mornings, cake stalls, quizzes, progressive suppers, sponsored events, auction of promises, are just a few examples, but you may have tried and tested ideas you’ve used for other events.
With your support we are hoping to raise £20k for 20 years!
If you’d like to fundraise for us either as an individual or as a group, please let us know by leaving your details with us by email to info@ruralcoffeecaravan.org.uk, or by calling us on 01379 855338.
(*405 visits were made in 2022)
At the Rural Coffee Caravan we know that isolation doesn’t have to mean loneliness. To ward off loneliness people of all ages need connection.
Welcome to our website
Rural Coffee Caravan creates social spaces in rural places.
Knowing what’s going on in our own communities isn’t always easy. It is especially difficult if access to transport is limited, or the village shop or pub or post office has gone or you live in one of Suffolk’s very scattered parishes.
The Rural Coffee Caravan (affectionately know as ‘the Coffee Caravan’) exists to help rurally isolated people in Suffolk access services and information to improve their lives, health and wellbeing, and to bring people together, empowering and strengthening rural communities. We work to alleviate loneliness and social isolation by providing occasions that engender conversations, leading to people feeling more a part of their community. Our service is free and accessible to everyone.
We think that loneliness is everyone’s business, now more than ever.
Follow the links above to find out more about Rural Coffee Caravan visits, about the various projects and initiatives we deliver across Suffolk, and take a look at our virtual leaflet rack and digital noticeboard. We share signposting information online!
If you have a question or enquiry, we’d love to hear from you – just click the button below!
Rural Coffee Caravan is proud to be a part of the Connection Coalition.
Founded by the Jo Cox Foundation, the #ConnectionCoalition is a network of organisations, charities, companies and groups, united in the belief that a better future can be built for everyone by building strong relationships and connected communities. We hope that many more Suffolk charities will join and take part in the Community Makes Us campaign, a campaign which hopes to harness the community spirit/action which has arisen during the pandemic and reinforce it and amplify it going forwards into the future.
So do join the Coalition, download the toolkit, pop it on your website too, and use #CommunityMakesUs on your social media.
We are all in this together!
Our News
University of Suffolk Honorary Doctorate Awarded to Ann
We’re absolutely delighted for our Ann - The Rural Coffee Caravan’s Chief Exec, who officially received her honorary doctorate degree from University of Suffolk in yesterday's culminating graduation ceremony. Accompanied by Rural Coffee Caravan [...]
RCC Commemorative Catch Up
As part of the marking of The Rural Coffee Caravan’s 20th Anniversary, we produced a commemorative issue of our ‘Catch Up’ magazine, charting the charity’s 20 year progress and achievements from its origins through [...]
20th Anniversary Fundraising Update
2023 marks The Rural Coffee Caravan's 20th year. During those twenty years, we have grown from one little caravan and one part time project manager making about 20 visits a year – to 4 [...]
Rural Coffee Caravan C.E.O. Ann Osborn receives Honorary Doctorate from the University of Suffolk
The Rural Coffee Caravan team and trustees are immensely proud of our chief exec, Ann Osborn, for being awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Suffolk! Kindness across the county Appointed by RCC founder [...]
We attended the Coffee Caravan event in Brandon last year, we were very pleased to be invited to such an informative and interesting day!It was packed full of stands with information and help for the local community. We certainly made some new contacts. We hope to do it again later this year.
The coffee was good too !!!!
Thank you for a lovely morning and the lift home. I really enjoyed meeting everyone. Please could you pass my thanks also to the gentleman who made me such a lovely cup of tea, I’m afraid I’ve forgotten his name though.After I’ve finished this e-mail I’ll be searching Amazon for the cookbook you were telling me about.
Rural Coffee Caravan has given Ashbocking residents a friendly, confidential, impartial source of information for a variety of services and organisations, as well as a good reason to meet and share ideas together, with easy activities, coffee and cake!Perfect!
I would like to thank you for your valuable advice about the possibilities available from MSDC for various aspects of funding for our Village Hall project.As you know our new building is now finished and will be officially opened on July 7th.
The Coffee Caravan has been visiting Redlingfield for two years now and from a population of not much more than 100 we get a turn-out of 20-plus for their visits.I would urge any village – large or small – to consider the benefits of their visits. If they stopped, many villagers would miss the regular meetings with the exceptionally friendly and well informed staff and volunteers.
Thank you so much for your regular visits to our Village Lunch mornings in Stansfield village. Our village lunch attracts people from several of the surrounding villages, as well as residents of Stansfield.We are most grateful for this useful resource, and its always a pleasure to have you join us, Garry.
Long may the Rural Coffee Caravan continue to enhance our life in this area of Suffolk.
On behalf of the Rattlesden Good Neighbours Scheme I would like to thank the Coffee Caravan and its helpers for visiting Rattlesden.We feel that the Rural Coffee Caravan is essential as it encourages rural villages, like ours,to do the things they have always done but that somehow were forgotten. It is so good that they are reminding us what “community” is about.
We look forward to further visits.
Dave, Roger, Harold & myself attended Shotley, Brandon & Red Lodge with our Meccano, Hornby displays last year.We had a very enjoyable time at each visit with lots of interest on our respective displays. The organisers went out of their way to ensure our attendance went without a hitch, food & drink was well presented and all attendees where very friendly and helpful.
Hope we can help you all again sometime this year.