Café 103 was the vision of Rev. Helen Baker a community minister to the Graven Hill housing development in Bicester from Orchard Baptist Church. During the COVID-19 lockdown she saw a deep need for support as people struggled emotionally with isolation and lack of support services. Helen was inspired by a Baptist Church movement called Renew Wellbeing. She pulled together a small team from the church, Cathy Bishop and Sarah Hines, to open a wellbeing Café in Bicester.

 

Our doors opened in February 2022 at a community house on Graven Hill. The Café did see some use but the numbers attending were low. Six months later we moved to The Beacon, a building in central Bicester which also housed the Bicester Foodbank and is owned by Bicester Christian Action. Numbers increased rapidly.

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Helen retired at the end of 2023 and Cathy Bishop became Café Manager in January 2024. After we outgrew The Beacon we moved to Bicester Methodist Church where we are currently located. Most sessions are now attended by between 25 and 42 guests.

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We work closely with other community groups in Bicester particularly Citizens Advice, Bicester Foodbank and The Open Doors Café.

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We are staffed by our wonderful volunteers and have grown to be a team of 28.