STABLES CHRISTIAN CENTRE

News

 

Coffee Shop - Open!

 

We are delightd to announce that our Coffee Shop is back!  Come and enjoy homemade cakes and drinks, maybe take a woodland walk, and if you want to take a bit of goodness home with you, our plants, craft products, marmalade, jam and chutneys will also be on sale.  The Coffee Shop is open on the first Saturday in the month from May to October from 2.00pm to 4.30pm. We will be serving hot and cold drinks and delicious homemade cakes.  Aunt Flo's chocolate cake is a firm favourite!  There will also be a sale in December, where you will be able to buy cakes.

Sales - Open for Business!

Our shop is open during Centre opening hours (most Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9.30 and 3.30) or at other times if you phone beforehand to arrange.  Please browse (and purchase!) our range of preserves,herbs and craft items.  Some details have changed, so please ensure that you refresh the page you are viewing to get the most up-to-date information. If you are coming from a distance, just ring us to make sure.

 

 

Activities News

 

2022 January - February

The New Year has seen us busy in all departments.

 

The kitchen and craft teams were replenishing their stocks after the December sales.  They are seen here chopping oranges for marmalade, and making and stuffing cat toys.  They also made another freezer bag for a special order

        

Before packaging the preserves, a packaging group tests, tastes and records for quality control.  The tasting part of this is very popular!

       

Outdoors, some DIY jobs got done:  here the garage doors are getting some care and attention. 

                

 They also cleared and burned fallen branches.  The storms in February brought down two trees and a large branch, so there will be a lot more clearing to do.      

        

 

2021 - December

Our Christmas sale in early December was a huge success – so a big thank-you to all our customers for your support!  We will have much to do in January to replenish our stock. 

The bags were finished for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes – displayed here by Tuesday team members. 

Other bags were made from knitted squares.  Both were packed into shoeboxes in the St Neots warehouse – Gill was one of their helpers.

     

Everyone had time to finish their wreaths to take home for Christmas.  And on Thursday some of the leftovers were made into a wreath for the Stables front door. 

        

 

 

2021 - November

Our newest trustee, Sue, visited for a Thursday morning, getting to know the teams and re-honing her plant care and craft skills which she practised many moons ago as a staff member here. 

Meanwhile we have started busy production of Christmas gifts, and have also made a lot of bags for the charity “Operation Christmas child”.  These go in the shoeboxes which will be sent off shortly.

Outdoors Tuesday teams have gathered material and are constructing their Christmas wreaths – each one will be a little different, but they are fun to make.

           

 

 

2021 - August - September

When the Riseley Scout Group lent us their marquee in summer 2020 to help us get going safely after lockdown, none of us imagined that it would be a whole year before we were able to manage without it!  But once the spacing restrictions were lifted in August we dismantled and returned it – with hearty thanks to the Scouts! 

   

Fruit picking continued throughout August and September, firstly with the different varieties of plum, and then with the apple harvest.  The orchard trees all had their summer pruning too. 

             

      

 

2021 - July

July was a busy month as we worked hard on plant propagation, but also had a bumper crop of redcurrants and blackcurrants to be picked and processed.  The craft dept gathered and produced lots of bags of confetti for a wedding order.  The sewing machine was serviced and back in use making aprons etc.  In the heatwave they abandoned the craft room and found a shady spot outdoors to work! 

We said farewell to Ronel and the Tuesday group presented her with a traditional Stables frog.  We were glad to welcome Jen as a new staff member on the Tuesday team.

 

      

        

      

        

 

2021 - June

As we have not yet been able to re-open the coffee shop, we held another sale on Saturday 5 June, which was busier than ever.  The plants were very popular, but crafts and preserves went fast too, and we had run out of home-made cakes by lunchtime.  Gill was kept very busy at the till.  It was good to see people able to chat outdoors in the lovely weather.

    

 

2021 April/May

It has been great to welcome back both teams on site.  We continue to operate under strict covid-safe rules but have been able to achieve much both indoors and out.  Outdoor activities involved much clearing and bonfires, and a lot of plant work to get our plant sales tables up and running.  We also restarted the comfrey column.  Sharon and her teams made a lot more preserves, while in the craft section draught excluders and telephone pads were fairly new additions to our stock.