Jez here! A quick report on our pop up Saturday Social at October Books on Sat 18/5/24
This was our second one, so numbers are still building as word spread. First in was a lovely soft spoken person who had found us via one of our partner organisations - they had a cuppa and a little chocolate treat and after a little shyness we had a great chat about art, life and other things!
One of our regulars from 178 Above Bar St found us, they were greeted with big smiles by our crew who have been missing those familiar faces we used to see every week! They stocked up on fruit and had a nice tea, and chatted to two others for quite a while.
At the very end, a gentleman popped in who shares food with unhoused folk in Portswood and he was able to take all our leftover doughnuts and other sweet treats to pass on - we love it when stuff like this happens!
I popped into the front bookshop and invited a few people in - we really need to sort our signage better - and a lovely couple joined us for a good hour, had coffees and we put the world to rights!
Even better news is that three of the people who came are up for volunteering at our regular Friday pantry! Gill was quick to take their details so we can get them in - if you are up for volunteering, we need folks to help at Friday pantry and at Saturday Socials, we need folks to help collect food for the pantry, to spread the word - and if there’s something else you’d like to do, please suggest it!
October Books community space is a great place to hold these socials, not least because they’re a very likeminded organisation, being a radical bookshop and a co-op. I managed to resist the call to buy a book this time, but only just! They also have a great selection of ethical products.
We were supplied by some delicious fruit, pastries, cakes and biscuits by The Big Difference for this - thank you!
Thanks also to our supporters who part funded the event and to people who made a donation for their drinks and food - we are still £31 short on the cost of this event, so a little donation would be appreciated if you can!
https://buymeacoffee.com/arthousepantry/wishlist
