(Written by Matthew Hall – Well-Bean Café Support Worker)
Christmas and the New Year Period can is usually a heightened time of enjoyment for a lot of people – building up to the end of the year with a sense of joy and freedom with family and friends. For a lot of people however – this is simply not the case….
The Festive Period for many can mean a time when most of the world shuts down, where support services and community close down for periods of time – and a sense of isolation can increase. It is literally freezing and dark outside, and with support limited – it can be a really, really challenging period for people.
When writing a Blog, in essence you are supposed to keep things quite general about the service and non personal. For this edition blog post though – I will be moving away from that for a moment…
Christmas and the New Year has never been an enjoyable or positively memorable time for me personally. Due to past negative experiences, and just the way the end of the year feels – I have simply never been able to connect to it in a positive way. I always try to be positive to those around me to not affect their festive experience, though as a child, teenager and adult – I always get a cold sense around this time of year – I just accept it as ‘it is what it is’..
What is the use of this part of sharing this then? Well if you are feeling at all this way, or in ANY sense of crisis – then I partly empathise with you. I especially choose to work the Christmas and New Year Period – as I want to make a difference to anyone in crisis at this time of year. This is why myself and my colleagues do this work – to help others….
At the Well-Bean Café – we will accept you more than ever this time of year. We are open an extra day over the Christmas Period to offer support in times of Crisis if you need it.
CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR OPENING TIMES: CHRISTMAS PERIOD: SAT 23RD DEC’, SUN 24TH (XMAS EVE), MON 25TH (XMAS DAY), TUE 26TH (BOXING DAY) / NEW YEARS PERIOD: SAT 30TH, SUN 31ST (NYE), MON 1ST JAN (NYD). 
*PLEASE NOTE – WE WILL BE OFFERING TAXIS TO AND FROM THE SERVICE FOR ALL VISITORS ON CHRISTMAS EVE, CHRISTMAS DAY AND BOXING DAY, AS WELL AS NEW YEARS EVE AND NEW YEARS DAY DUE TO THE RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT OVER THESE PERIODS*
OUR PROFESSIONAL REFERRAL LINE IS: 07760 173505                                                              OUR SELF REFERRAL LIFE IS: 07760 173476 (both lines open 6 to 12pm Sat to Mon)
We offer a genuinely safe place – with support workers and trained therapists, offering the following services: A non-judgemental social place to relax in, hot food and not/cold drinks on tap (no charge), 1 to 1 therapeutic support sessions (up to an hour – from a person centred standpoint), practical support – with a focus on social crisis, information and signposting to others helpful services in Leeds, as well as having board games, art books, music and even a pool table that can be used by anyone. Our workers – Kim, Simon, Matt, Amareen, Wendy, Holly, Maddie and Christian are to welcome you with a friendly smile J…
The Well-Bean – Hope in a Crisis Café is a service run in partnership between Touchstone and Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service.
 
*PLEASE NOTE – ON YOUR FIRST VISIT TO THE WELL-BEAN CAFÉ – WE WILL PROVIDE A FREE TAXI (TO AND FROM) THE SERVICE, TO TAKE AWAY THE WORRY OF GETTING TO US FOR THE FIRST TIME*