The Rural Coffee Caravan Information Project delivers information and friendship across Suffolk. Information is power - and the Rural Coffee Caravan Information Project befriends people and offers them access to the information they need to empower them.


Knowing what’s going on in our own communities isn’t always easy. It is especially difficult if access to transport is limited, or the village shop or pub or post office has gone, or you live in one of Suffolk’s very scattered parishes. We bring the Project to rural communities, equipped with coffee, tea & homemade cakes, along with all sorts of information about organisations and the services they offer you.
     














“Making a difference to rural communities throughout Suffolk”

Newsflash Donate to us Online Great News. We have teamed up with Charity Choice and the Co-Operative Bank to accept donations online. So now you can send us a donation straight away using your credit or debit card! Just click on the Donate Now button and you will be taken to our page on the Charity Choice website. It’s 100% secure and unlike some other schemes every single penny of your gift reaches the charity as Charity Choice passes on 100 per cent of any donation and neither the giver nor the charity is charged anything for using the service. If you would like to help us you can donate online right now by clicking on the Donate Now button which will take you to our donations page on the Charity Now website. It’s 100% secure.

Donate with justtextgiving You can now also donate to us by text. You just text CCIP03 £ then the amount to 70070

You can now follow us on Twitter

Take part in the Coffee Caravan Christmas Quiz Have some fun and see how you do with our Christmas Quiz Would you like to help us by donating a £1 and having a chance to win £25? Our quiz gives you the second lines (and sometimes a bit more to help you) to songs, old and new. You just need to remember the first lines, the singer/band and the title of the songs to be in with a chance to win. Download the Quiz as a word document Download the Quiz as a pdf Please text your donation (£1 or more). Type CCIP03 followed by amount e.g CCIP03£1 & send to 70070 Please email or post your completed Quiz back to us by 6th January 2012.

Working together to combat loneliness and reduce ill health The Campaign to End Loneliness is a nationwide campaign that is calling for more local collaboration between the government and voluntary organisations to reduce loneliness among older people, which could improve the lives and health of older people and in turn reduce health costs. The Coffee Caravan is one of 75 organisations working on this initiative to combat loneliness. More information can be found at the campaign to end loneliness website   Laura Ferguson, who is the Director of the Campaign to End Loneliness, said “If you live on your own you can become lonely over time and, alarmingly, you are more likely to become ill and need more intensive health and social care support. Loneliness should be better understood and prioritised by all those providing support or contact to people in local areas, including health providers. Reducing loneliness is likely to reduce the vulnerability of older people and further health costs.”

Find out about Suffolk Independent Living Payments Advice Service Suffolk Independent Living is the direct payments support service in Suffolk, providing advice and support to people considering or using Direct Payments. Direct payments are a cash payment made by Suffolk County Council in order for you to meet your assessed needs. A direct payment can also be part of a personal budget. Visit the Suffolk Independent Living website for more information.

Our new Mobility bus We are now the proud owners of a Mobility bus!   This vehicle will seat 7 people (including driver) or 6 people and a wheelchair.  We are absolutely delighted, not only do we now have a way of transporting anyone who uses a wheelchair or who has difficulty getting around but we can also use it to tow our Coffee Caravan meaning our volunteer towers just need to drive it rather than having to use their own cars or vans. We plan to use it to collect people who would like to come to one of our village visits but can’t for reasons of mobility. So if you know of someone in your village that you think would like to make use of this facility please let us know and we can make the necessary arrangements. We would also like to be able to allow villages to “borrow” the Mobility bus for special events. For example, maybe you have an ‘Open Gardens ‘day that certain residents can’t access, provided you can find a suitable driver you could use the bus to drive them around to each garden, very useful if the gardens are spread all over the village.  The possibilities are endless. Just call us for a chat; we will always do our best to help you.

Suffolk Circle Is a new membership organisation that provides help with life's practical tasks through local, reliable helpers, and links members together to get out and about and to learn new things. Based in Bury St Edmunds they currently cater for neighbouring areas but will be expanding to cover the whole of Suffolk in time. You can contact them by phone or by clicking on their logo below.