General News
20 June, 2025
House’s Chatty Cafe grows
Maryborough Community House (MCH) has become a space for guest speakers and friendly conversation.
Maryborough Community House (MCH) has put its own spin on the international Chatty Cafe movement, becoming a space for friendly and insightful conversations.
MCH’s Jo Carter said the events came about as an accessible way to combat loneliness on a local level following the pandemic.
“For us, it began after 2020 because of COVID, I decided we needed something to bring everybody out to have a social connection. Chatty Cafe is actually international, it’s from England, and it’s something that brings everybody together socially with a cup of coffee, tea, or whatever,” she said.
The Chatty Cafe scheme started in England in 2017 by allocating community spaces for strangers to meet and have friendly conversations.
“We decided to do that with a gold coin donation, so it was accessible and easy for everyone. It can be done anywhere, and it’s working here,” Ms Carter said.
When attendance began to strongly vary each month, MCH started to introduce guest speakers.
“We recently decided to bring in guest speakers, and then it started to pick up again. It became a chance for local people to get information that nobody else was giving them,” Ms Carter said.
MCH’s most recent Chatty Cafe hosted local district nurses, allowing conversations about support, services, or any questions attendees may have.
“In our last session, we had district nurses, and they explained what they do and how they work throughout the community, like how the Department of Health aged care package works if older attending people need them,” Ms Carter said.
The upcoming MCH Chatty Cafe session will be hosted by local SES volunteers, with many more to be announced in the future.
“Next month, we have the SES who will talk about fire prevention. We are fully booked for guest speakers until November, and we are even trying to book speakers for next year,” Ms Carter said.
She said by bringing guest speakers to friendly events like these, it became an easier way for those attending to get important information directly from a local source.
“It’s been very popular for guest speakers to get particular information out. When things change like the age care packages, those guest speakers can be there to explain the changes happening,” Ms Carter said.
“Not only do people get the information they need, but they get to socialise and have a chat and make friends.”
MCH Chatty Cafes are on the first Tuesday of every month, with the next event on July 1.