A Warwick business has added more pop-ups to the array of community services it is hosting.
People Arches Ltd, the company behind McDonald’s on Emscote Road, has already teamed up with Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Mind to offer a site for its wellbeing vehicle to park, offering a mobile ‘Safe Haven’ for those suffering mental health distress.
After the success of the service, which attracted record numbers of service users in the period it ran, the same venue is now offering more community-focused services through collaborations with Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Mind as well as Citizens Advice.
The business is now staging a weekly coffee club on Fridays with Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Mind, giving people the opportunity to enjoy a free hot drink while meeting with others, getting advice and support where needed and also simply reducing the impact of loneliness or isolation.
Dee Hodgson, Outreach Office at Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Mind, said: “We are always looking for new ways to break down stigma and reduce the barriers that people tell us they have and continue to experience when it comes to seeking mental health support.
“Our mobile Safe Haven at Emscote Road McDonald’s proved a huge success, and we’re looking forward to building on that by offering weekly coffee mornings on Fridays, giving people a place to come together, meet new friends, and reduce isolation, as well as seeking support.
“There is a common myth that people need to join lengthy waiting lists to gain much needed support, but we want to raise awareness of the fact that we have services that can be accessed on the day.”
The coffee mornings are initially running for four weeks and if take-up is popular, plans will be made to expand them, as has been the case for the Safe Haven.
The mobile Safe Haven initially parked up at McDonald’s on four Thursday evenings across May, June and July – during which it received the highest number of service users since it started in July 2024. Figures from Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Mind showed in the quarter covered by the visits, there was a 250% increase in the number of face-to-face contacts with service users, and double the number of overall contacts.
Thanks to its success, more dates were added, including this Thursday, 28th August and Thursday 11th September – all from 6pm to 10.30pm.
In addition to work with Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Mind, People Arches has announced a partnership with Citizens Advice, which will see its Mobile Advice Centre (MAC) park weekly in its car park, delivering a range of advice and support.
The MAC is fully equipped to deliver a broad range of advice and support at outreach locations such as Emscote Road.
As a Cadent funded project, two fully trained Citizens Advice staff provide energy advice including help understanding energy bills, help with income maximisation, energy saving tips, and help with energy trust funds and applications. The advisors can also provide help and support with Housing, Employment issues, Relationship Breakdown, Consumer and Benefit checks.
The MAC will park weekly at McDonald’s on a Friday afternoon from 1pm to 5pm, starting on 12th September.
People Arches Ltd founder Dawood Ibtehsam said: “Community work is something we take incredibly seriously at People Arches Ltd, and are gradually building up the work we do to help our local community, from litter picks to volunteer days, and now by providing a place for these community services to be hosted for the people of Warwick.
“As well as providing a venue for these pop-ups, we ensure staff and volunteers are fed and watered, with full use of our facilities, and our coffee mornings will also see us provide free hot drinks for participants. These may seem like small things, but if they contribute to ensuring that these services are available for the community in Warwick, in a friendly, non-intimidating environment, then they can make a huge difference.”
