When lockdown was announced, not-for-profit community café, The Merstham Mix Café, rapidly refocused its skills and resources, launching a local hot meal delivery service at the end of March. Under this new service the staff and volunteers have recently passed the 4,000-meal milestone, serving some 70 different households in Merstham, many of them sheltering vulnerable […]
With the cafe’s temporary transition to a delivery service, we have been very lucky to gain the support of many new volunteers, but we have also missed seeing many of our longstanding volunteers. In the two and a half years the cafe has been open we have built up a truly eclectic team that ranges […]
As we’re all spending more time at home, most of us are cooking more than usual right now – either by necessity or to pass the time. But let’s face it finding inspiration on a daily basis can be hard! Plus, some ingredients are scarce and with less supermarket trips we often need to make […]
By Olivia Griffiths The last few weeks have been a strange time for us all. For many of us, life has been turned upside down as we try and juggle working life with family and other responsibilities. Our relationships have changed as chats, coffees and catch ups with friends are either by phone, video or […]
Monday 12th August saw the start of Afternoon Tea Week. Afternoon Tea is a tea-related ritual, introduced in Britain in the early 1840s. It evolved as a mini meal to stem the hunger and anticipation between lunch and an evening meal. Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in […]
Roger Peerless is a Surrey Mirror correspondent and a regular guest at the Merstham Mix. Few people know the local area better than him. He has lived in Merstham for over 60 years and was educated at Albury Manor School, just down the road from where the café now stands. In his time he has […]
If there’s anyone who knows Merstham it’s Maggie May. After all, she’s lived there for over 30 years. With her experience as an amateur theatre director, she’s also a lady who knows how to make things happen! Two years ago Maggie had an idea that sparked the Merstham Community Café project and she’s been working flat out ever since to […]
We live in a society where in some ways people are more disconnected than they’ve ever been. Families live further apart. We work longer hours and spend less time with the people that matter to us. More people live alone and in small, enclosed spaces that are inappropriate for their needs. In old age it’s especially […]
When clearing out the fridge, deciding what’s safe to eat and what may harm is not always easy. We may want to up our leftovers but we don’t want to risk a bout of food poisoning in the process. That’s why at the Merstham community café we hope to create a space where local people […]