Exciting news!

You regular Dock-blog-devotees (well there must be at least a few of you out there) will remember that just before Christmas we held the first TQ Meet The Neighbours event in an empty shop unit at the arc apartments.  A brazier blazed, mulled wine was supped, the Dock team did a great job transforming a bare concrete room into a fairy-light-festooned Christmassy grotto, snow fell, and (which was kind of the point) Neighbours Met.  My favourite moment was being able to introduce two American couples to each other; both recently moved to NI from the States, both not really knowing anyone in Belfast, both going through the same relocation upheavals, and both completely unaware of each others’ existence just down the hall!

The exciting news is that the TQ Ltd authorities, who were a fantastic help in putting the evening together, have said that they’d be very happy to see Meet The Neighbours become a regular event rather than a one-off, and have given permission for us to use that shop unit for as long as it stays empty.  I can’t think of a better way for The Dock to start having a presence in, and start really serving, the Titanic Quarter community.  A weekly deckchair cafe – with some kind of low-effort free food – at a regular time each week, providing a welcoming shared space for more and more neighbours to meet and for community to grow.

So – over to you.  When should Deckchair cafe take place – days, times?  Are there people out there in the world wide web who would be able to commit to helping me run it, chat, welcome, boil the kettle…?  Any bright ideas about the kind of food we could serve, the kind of welcome we could offer…?

If you have any suggestions, please do get in touch – and if you want to meet for the Meet The Neighbours brainstorming session, it’ll be in The Streat in the Odyssey at 12:00 on Saturday (29th).  Turning up on Saturday with some good ideas doesn’t mean that you’re signing up to always helping out…. promise!