It’s really, lovely to see the friendships that have blossomed... Many people rely on the connection they get from attending and we have started opening on bank holidays to ensure that they can still meet on a Monday morning. My staff also love hosting the MeetUpMondays group and fight over who gets to work on a Monday.
MeetUpMondays™
MeetUpMondays™ was started by Mick Dore of The Alexandra pub, SW19 in January 2018.
Mick was tired of reading about loneliness and decided to DO something. He began offering a couple of hours of free tea, coffee and sandwiches on a Monday lunchtime encouraging those in the local area who ‘are fed up with their own company’ to come along. This may be because they are a new mum, a home worker, out of work (for whatever reason) or an elderly person or couple who have started to feel isolated.
Ann Osborn, Chief Exec of The Rural Coffee Caravan then fell over #MeetUpMondays on Twitter and thought it was an absolutely perfect fit with the charity’s work addressing loneliness and isolation. With Mick’s blessing, The Rural Coffee Caravan developed a network of MeetUpMondays™ hosts in pubs and cafés in Suffolk, collaborating occasionally with local Good Neighbour Schemes and GP Social Prescribers.
Hospitality businesses from around the UK began to show interest in coming on board and the network grew outwards from Suffolk. Today – there’s even a MeetUpMondays in South Carolina USA! Each group is unique to its host venue, and they aren’t all held on a Monday, but wherever it’s hosted, MeetUpMondays™ has the power to simply change lives.
(Editor’s note: Follow Mick Dore on social media – he’s an inspiration! His pub has consistently won awards for its commitment to the community - notably its free Christmas dinner for anyone who would usually be alone on Christmas Day).
Interested in becoming a MeetUpMondays™ host?
Visitor and Host FAQs
MeetUpMondays is an initiative launched to help address loneliness and isolation. It offers hospitality businesses the chance to support and strengthen their local communities by holding free, weekly coffee mornings, creating welcoming social spaces for folk who might feel lonely or isolated. It provides opportunities for friendship and company that might not otherwise be available.
Each MeetUpMondays is unique to the venue which hosts it.
Whether in a pub, café, tea-room or hotel lounge, the same premise applies to every MeetUpMondays. The venue simply provides a space for everyone to sit, chat and have some company for an hour or two, once a week, every week.
Some venues also hold a small raffle or quiz now and again. Some MeetUpMondays groups have enjoyed each other’s company so much they’ve formed lunch clubs - staying on at their venue even after the session has ended! Other venues have gone on to organise extra outings for their groups (theatre, boat or museum trips).
No. The venue can choose to host their sessions on a different day of the week – the network caters for any day. The popular choice is often Monday as it can be a venue’s quietest day after a busy weekend. So check which day of the week your local venue runs their sessions on before going along.
Monday can often be the loneliest day of the week for some, too, so an ideal day to seek some company.
Anyone and everyone is welcome! No matter what age, experience or background, there’s always a warm welcome, and if you don’t feel like talking but could do with the company, that’s still OK.
Come on your own or bring someone along – maybe you’ll make a friend or two there! If you’re new to the area and would like to meet your neighbours, it’s a great place to start.
Some venues are dog friendly if you have a furry companion to bring, just call ahead to check first.
If you’re feeling fed up or lonely – give it a go and then perhaps you won’t be!
Those who go aren’t labelled by the word lonely, they are individuals who may not happen to have family or friends around them at present but want to share their day and their companionship with others.
The whole idea is to guarantee a welcoming environment where people can expect to find kindness and friendship. Venues which join the network do so because this is what they want to offer to their community.
The people that go along do so because this is what they hope to find and be part of – and they may have been in your shoes when visiting for the first time, so will appreciate just how you feel!
It’s FREE!
Tea, coffee and sometimes other refreshments are provided free by the venue. There is no charge for attending; no need to book – just turn up. Stay for 10 minutes or for the whole session!
Because they take place weekly, every week, no matter how many people are there, you can attend once in a while or every single week – it’s up to you!
Enter your postcode onto our map, to find the details of the nearest MeetUpMondays sessions to you.
We’d love to have a MeetUpMondays in every town across the UK, but if there isn’t one near you at present, you could print out our flyer (below) and take it to your nearest pub or café, or give us their details, and we’ll invite them to become a host.
Once a week, for an hour or two, the host venue provides a space in their pub/café/tea room/hotel lounge for people to sit and chat; providing free (standard) tea and coffee, and maybe some sort of nibbles, for the visitors to enjoy during the session.
For the price of some teabags, a jar of coffee and a packet of biscuits – you’ll be rewarded with something priceless: lifting the lives of your local community members!
We provide a free welcome pack which includes a donation pot for you to keep and display year round so that all your customers can support your offer of free refreshments
Hosting MeetUpMondays reinforces your pub/café as being at the heart of the community.
Many visitors enjoy the welcoming and friendly environment so much, they come back at other times of the week as paying customers. Some groups form regular lunch clubs so that they can stay on after the sessions to continue enjoying the company and the chat!
Hosts express how MeetUpMondays is the best thing they’ve ever done. It’s helped them to gain a useful insight into what their locals want, and what’s going on in their community. As one host put it: “Your business will grow, and your heart will grow.”
The idea of MeetUpMondays being held in hospitality businesses is that they occur in ‘everyday life’ situations within the normal, daily running of your service; keeping your workload to a minimum and to ensure the consistency of keeping them running.
If only a few visitors turn up one week – you’re open anyway so no extra arrangements would be wasted. Sometimes local volunteers help by being ‘Meeters & Greeters’ or serving the tea/coffee, so no extra staff should be needed.
Not at all! The network caters for any day of the week – we have branding and templates for other days, whilst still keeping everyone part of the same network!
Choosing your quieter time of day and day of the week to hold sessions on helps to keep your business busier on these days.
We provide free digital and physical tools and resources to help you to get the word out. We’ll create poster/flyer/social media posts for you to use and we’ll promote you on our social media pages. You’ll be added to the MeetUpMondays map.
You’ll get official MeetUpMondays logos, a window sticker for your venue, and drinks coasters, and some ‘Happy to Chat’ badges for you and your staff to wear at your sessions.
Keep ‘shouting’ about and sharing the wonderful thing that you’re doing! Even if your visitors might not be online, chances are someone who knows them is – and can let them know how good MeetUpMondays would be for them!
We’ll offer help on getting a pavement swing sign to place outside your venue, to signpost visitors to you.
All of this will show you’re part of the recognised MeetUpMondays network.
The MeetUpMondays network is established for hospitality businesses, a further explanation of why can be found in this PDF: MeetUpMondays – 10 Reasons Why
But don’t despair! Village halls, community centres and church rooms are equally as valuable a resource in tackling loneliness! If you run (or would like to run) a community activity, club or event in a venue like this, Email us. Suffolk based events can benefit from being part of our c-a-f-e (coffee and friends events) network and those located elsewhere in the UK can host Coffee Companions
Email us to say you’d like to come on board! We’ll need to know:
- your business, address, website & contact details
- your proposed start date and session day/times
- what refreshments you will be offering free
- your business social media account names so we can tag you to help promote you
We help you get the MeetUpMondays ball rolling and are here to answer any questions and offer tips and ideas along the way. Each venue has its own unique style. Hosts tailor their sessions according to their knowledge of their own locals, their business and also to the means at their disposal.
We encourage you to keep sharing your MeetupMondays news and photos online, and we’ll use our social media pages to help promote you.
We’ll occasionally send newsletters to share ideas and heartwarming stories between our host venues. You become a part of the supportive MeetUpMondays community when you join the network!
If you’d like to see MeetUpMondays in your home town – download and print our flyer (below); take it along to your nearest pub or café. Tell them about the initiative and how much of a difference it would make!
Volunteer to be a ‘Meeter/Greeter’ or ‘Happy Chatter’ at your local MeetUpMondays. Be the warm welcome and friendly face for new visitors.
Local businesses can support their local MeetUpMondays by:
- offering to print flyers to promote their sessions (we’ll provide the template), with their own details on the reverse of the flyer
- supplying refreshments for MeetUpMondays sessions, or vouchers for them
- sponsoring a pavement swing sign (we’ll design it and organise printing). Your sponsor details can be displayed on the sign to show your support. Email us if you’d like further information.
Perhaps you are an organisation which could offer an excursion to a MeetUpMondays group?
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MeetUpMondays™ Makes My Day
Some of the feedback we have received from MeetUpMondays™ visitors and hosts. Here’s why they make such a difference…