A SPACE in Frome dedicated to kindness, has been open as one of the town’s warm spaces during the cold weather and cost-of-living crisis.
The Good Heart, on Palmer Street, provides ‘free tea and a warm welcome.’ They offer free drinks and hot food and have been open as a general warm space for the community. To coincide with this, they started Tiny Hearts, a drop-in group for children under five and their grownups, that runs every weekday morning 9am to 11am which offers kids games, toys and free hot drinks.
Director of The Good Heart, Alison Murdoch, said, “Tiny Hearts has been really successful. In the first month we had more than 100 people. The place has been solid with children. Parents that have come along have said they have really liked the informality of it because they don’t need to book, it’s free of charge and they are not signing up for anything.
“Aside from it being a warm space, it’s a place for parents to come and meet other parents and have a cup of tea. One parent told us recently that when she comes to Tiny Hearts, it’s the only time of day when she speaks to another adult.”
Updating Frome Times about how the general warm space has gone over the winter months Alison said, “The general warm space has been more varied. Some days it’s quiet and others there’s a few more people. We have had a few regulars turn up. There was a time recently where only one person came in but the volunteers were happy to keep it open because even if it’s helping one person, it’s worth it!
“There is always someone to talk to here. If people come in on their own, there will always be someone to have a chat with. The volunteers have been really happy to run it. It’s been incredibly important.”
In the coming months, The Good Heart plans to potentially keep the warm space open but have groups and activities taking place there. Alison said, “We all want to keep this running and the volunteers are really happy to keep opening so we will see what we can do. We are just feeling our way at the moment but happy for any groups to come forward.”
The Tiny Hearts group will continue until the end of April; the team will then review how to keep this going in a part-time way.
The Good Heart is open every Tuesday to Sunday 12pm to 7pm. Hot food is home-cooked and plant based, served 12pm-3pm and again at 5pm to 7pm. Those who can afford to pay are invited to contribute towards a meal for someone else as part of the ‘pay it forward scheme.’
From Sunday 5th to Saturday 11th March, the Good Heart will be running the Frome Kindness Festival.
Pictured: The Good Heart on Palmer Street.