{"id":79841,"date":"2021-12-03T04:56:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T17:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?p=79841"},"modified":"2022-02-27T10:59:45","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T23:59:45","slug":"community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\/","title":{"rendered":"Community reconnecting over a cuppa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ONE woman\u2019s community initiative is helping to address a hidden need for connection across Bendigo.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Draper founded A Cuppa with Company almost five years ago after her previous work highlighted issues of loneliness and isolation locally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used to be counselling up at Uniting Emergency Relief and perceived a need for an inclusion program because a lot of clientele were hanging around, they had nowhere to go, they couldn\u2019t afford to pay for heating or cooling and they were lonely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>That disconnect was only highlighted when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but Ms Draper said the program\u2019s weekly social meetups at the Forest Street Uniting Church were helping to mend it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of our ladies, she burst into tears as soon as she found out we were open,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was thrilled, and everybody who is a regular is absolutely thrilled to bits that we are open again because they just like to sit and socialise.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_79843\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-79843\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-79843\" src=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/DSC_0530-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-79843\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kitchen assistant Red Gordon keeps the cuppas coming.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>More than 6000 meals have been served since the program\u2019s inception, with financial support from next door neighbours the Red Dove Op-Shop and food donations from the Golden Square Bakery, Bendigo Marketplace Donut King and Beechworth Bakery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is just a little grassroots program, but it has far reaching consequences,\u201d Ms Draper said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve helped people find a job, accommodation, be reunited with family, kick their addictions and make friendships.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody is welcome to come, and we\u2019ll help as much as we possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Further support is being offered during the festive season through the Cuppa\u2019s Christmas program, with donations of new toys and vouchers now being accepted to gift to kids up to 18 years of age.<\/p>\n<p>About 600 children received a gift from the program last Christmas and 150 young people have already been registered for assistance this year.<\/p>\n<p>Donations can be dropped off at the church on Thursdays from 10am to 2pm and families in need can get support by contacting A Cuppa with Company on Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ONE woman\u2019s community initiative is helping to address a hidden need for connection across Bendigo. Angela Draper founded A Cuppa with Company almost five years ago after her previous work highlighted issues of loneliness and isolation locally. \u201cI used to be counselling up at Uniting Emergency Relief and perceived a need for an inclusion program [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":184,"featured_media":79842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-79841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Community reconnecting over a cuppa - Bendigo Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Community reconnecting over a cuppa - Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ONE woman\u2019s community initiative is helping to address a hidden need for connection across Bendigo. Angela Draper founded A Cuppa with Company almost five years ago after her previous work highlighted issues of loneliness and isolation locally. \u201cI used to be counselling up at Uniting Emergency Relief and perceived a need for an inclusion program [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-02T17:56:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-26T23:59:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/12\/DSC_0533-scaled-e1638346620953.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Martin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Martin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katie Martin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9ca77e473680910b9755fd1276b78e64\"},\"headline\":\"Community reconnecting over a cuppa\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-02T17:56:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-26T23:59:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":352,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/DSC_0533-scaled-e1638346620953.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/\",\"name\":\"Community reconnecting over a cuppa - Bendigo Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/DSC_0533-scaled-e1638346620953.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-02T17:56:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-26T23:59:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/community-reconnecting-over-a-cuppa\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/DSC_0533-scaled-e1638346620953.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/DSC_0533-scaled-e1638346620953.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Welcome: A Cuppa with Company is helping to bridge gaps in the community. 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