Last updated 19:27, Thursday, 20 November 2008

THERE may be no such thing as a free lunch – but free tea and cake are definitely on the menu at Dearham.

Dearham Methodist and St Mungo’s churches’ combined fellowship group has started a weekly cafe in the village hall for everyone to enjoy a free cuppa, some cake and a lot of chat.

The idea came about when Victoria Moody, a young mother herself, was offering other mothers a ride into Maryport for morning tea as a way to get together.

Barbara Williams, one of the organisers, said the joint fellowship agreed that there should be something locally.

She said: We don’t charge and we don’t even put out a box for donations.”

But she said the hall hire had been reduced, there were donations of tea and coffee, and Impact Housing had given a cheque for £50.

Impact Housing had also offered the services of helper Derek Baldwin, who bakes many of the cakes. He is among a core group of volunteers with his partner, Mary Thompson, Mrs Williams’s husband Graham, and Carolyn Filson.

Mrs Williams said: “We get busy from about 9am to 10am when the mothers come in. Then there is a lull before the next wave – people going to the Post Office, for instance. The mobile library comes once a week and the librarian pops in as do many of his customers.”

Sam Coates, who recently moved to Dearham from Maryport, said the cafe was an excellent way to meet people.

The cafe is open each Tuesday from 9am to 11.30am during term time.