Organisations across Northern Ireland have been stepping up to help those struggling with the cost-of-living crisis
and Co Down has been no different.
"Not only that but we didn't want to label it as something that was for people who were struggling, because we thought that might not entice them to come in. "It varies from week to week in terms of how busy it is, but we've been pleased to see that some people have come in just from word of mouth." Meanwhile, at The Beacon in Newtownards, Andy Shanks has been overseeing a coffee morning on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, both from 10am-12pm."It's an old church building, the church closed down about three years ago, so we started The Beacon in March of this year, by doing a monthly Saturday coffee morning and a weekly Tuesday coffee morning," he said.
"That could be anyone from a young mum coming in with children to retired people, elderly people, people who are lonely, people that just come in for a chat, to catch up with friends and make friends, so it's been well-received.
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