What a great occasion it was when the community said goodbye to community Wednesday Morning Cuppas, an Outreach Program, on Wednesday 4 December.

Some 59 people came along to participate in this sad and also joyous occasion.

Some of the people had been coming for years while for one person it was their first and last occasion.

Ten people from Sing Australia came along and entertained everyone with their selection of songs.

This saw the end of 18 years of free morning cuppas provided to the community of Young in St John’s Church Hall.

Dorothy Nash said she started this off after seeing it in operation in Scotland.

“When we returned from Scotland we tried it out during the time of David Hill, the rector then," she said.

"His wife Barbara and I started off with five people and it never looked back. “

It was clear that it was a success early on with regulars coming along.

Some of those people made enduring friendships courtesy of coming there.

Sometimes carers came along with the people they were looking after.

It was also apparent that many people really looked forward to those times together.

“It was a difficult decision to cease but after 18 years it was time to give up,” Dorothy said.

“We shall miss the friendship and company of people we have met over the years.

"We think we have provided something like 28,000 cups over that time and also we raised something over $15,000 from the sale of jams.

"Some of this bought amenities for the hall and most went to Bush Church Aid which is an Anglican Australian Mission.”

Over the years there had been many helpers, the late Margaret Kite was there on Day One and helped until she was no longer able to help.

The Ledgers – Peter and Lyn – helped for many years.

Chris Bragg and family provided many dozens of eggs and Chris’s beautiful biscuits were much enjoyed over the years.

The final team was Dorothy and Rob Nash, Bev Cameron, Russel Troth and Brett Schiller.

“To all those helpers I am deeply indebted,” Dorothy said.

It progressively built up taking up the whole church hall on Wednesdays for many years.

We were inoperative during the worst of COVID and looking back perhaps we never recovered from those times.

At its peak it averaged 55 people sometimes going up to 65 on special occasions.

On the final day there were messages of support from Rev David Hill and Rev Ian Marshall who had been rectors during its operation.

Cr Alison Foreman came along representing our Mayor.

Dorothy Nash as Convenor of the Morning Cuppas briefly reviewed the life of Morning Cuppas and thanked all for their contribution.

In particular she mentioned Mrs Chris Bragg who had been a very early helper.

The Rector, Neil Percival, thanked Dorothy and her helpers for all their work over so many years.

Cr Foreman paid tribute to Dorothy and her helpers and thanked everyone for supporting the morning by coming along.

Sing Australia ended the day with the Maoris Farewell.

“Goodbye and we wish our Wednesday people all the very best,” Dorothy said.

- ROBERT NASH