'Hello Café' will connect people in Ballina

An initiative being hosted at a café in Ballina is helping people connect with others in the local community while offering a friendly chat and a listening ear to all.

Every Monday morning from 11am to 12 noon, the Hello Café is open at Costa Coffee at Pearse Street in Ballina and anyone over the age of 18 is welcome to come along and join the group table or have a confidential talk one-to-one with a group of volunteers who are trained to listen and provide a welcoming, safe space.

The initiative is spearheaded by Bonniconlon woman Jaqi Lodge, who told the Western People how she received training from Landmark Worldwide in running community events several years ago and was inspired to start the Hello Café to create connections between people.

“Connections are a big thing. I would have experienced loneliness and isolation myself and I know how hard that is.

“I love people, I love talking to people. I’m always curious about their life, their world and what is going on for them and wanted to create a project where people feel more connected.” 

However, it was around this time that Covid-19 restrictions came into effect and Jaqi had to shelve the idea of a café. She was not completely deterred from creating connections though, and set up a programme in Bonniconlon called ‘Let Us Connect'. She also ran an initiative called ‘Letters Connect’ whereby local people stayed connected through letters at this difficult, isolating time. 

Coming out the other side of the Covid-19 lockdown, she was inspired to then pursue the Hello Café idea once again. She was able to round up a number of volunteers to allow the programme to hit the ground running.

“This is a community project, it is not Jaqi’s project," she explains. "And this is not specifically aimed at people with mental health issues. It is a resource for the community, even if you feel great but just want to meet new people, we are here for that.

“We get all sorts of people. You might be feeling lonely or isolated. Maybe you had an argument with your spouse or you are worried about your child completing exams or maybe you are new to the town and want to meet people.

“You come in and have a chat and it can make the world of difference to your mood. You can see people’s mood lift. Sometimes we just talk about the weather but then people come back and the conversation can deepen.

“All of our volunteers are trained by Theresa Keane from Mental Health Ireland, who has been a huge supporter of ours, in the Hello, How Are You training.” 

Jaqi explained more about how the Hello Café runs.

“We sit at the big table at the back of Costa and have a sign that says, ‘Hello, How Are You?’ because we launched off the back of 'Hello, How Are You' day [held in Ballina last May],” she said.

“We have two volunteers in place at a time who are trained to listen, to initiate conversation, to ask open questions and to be a warm, welcoming safe space.

“For the bigger group, we like to keep it as a group chat but there is an option for a one-to-one confidential conversation if someone is shy or wants to get something off their chest.

“It is very much about providing a listening ear, it is a simple idea but a very powerful one.” 

Jaqi said the volunteers are not trained in dealing with serious mental health issues but they can provide further information on other resources that are available for people. Her ambitions for Hello Café are high and she believes this is a project that could work in any town in Ireland.

“If it takes off, the vision is it goes national. Maybe we could partner with Costa across the country - the local branch in Ballina have been so helpful to us,” she said.

“It is very interesting that there is a sign on their door that says, ‘Hello, welcome to Ballina’, that almost gives me goosebumps, like it was meant to be.” 

She said the group is always seeking more volunteers for Hello Café and asked that anyone interested contact her by email on jackylodge@gmail.com.