A new community café is opening at the heart of Standish Care Village this August, named by the residents who helped shape it, staffed in part by the residents who live there, and open to absolutely everybody.

The Village Bean, a converted horsebox café, opens on Friday 14th August in the centre of the village, serving Rijo coffee, hot and cold drinks, pastries and snacks. Residents, families, visitors, staff, suppliers, tradespeople and delivery drivers are all welcome to pull up a chair.

The name was chosen by residents themselves, who have been involved in the project from day one, and it is residents who will be behind the counter, taking orders and making the coffees.

A place for the whole community

Standish Care Village was built on a simple idea: that a care home should not be a place set apart from the community around it. The Village Bean is the clearest expression of that yet, a shared front door where the whole village, and the wider Standish and Wigan community, can meet.

For residents, it means being able to walk out of their home and meet neighbours from the other homes on site over a coffee, rather than staying within four walls. For families, it means somewhere proper to sit down together during a visit, and, just as importantly, somewhere to meet other families. 

Many of the people who use the café will be going through something very similar, and the friendships that form over a cup of tea between relatives can be every bit as valuable as the care itself.

A children's climbing frame sits alongside the café, so grandchildren and great-grandchildren have somewhere to play while the adults catch up. Three and four generations of the same family can now spend a genuine afternoon at the village together, not a short visit in a bedroom, but an afternoon out.

Meaningful work for our residents

The Village Bean is not an activity laid on for residents. It is a working café that residents are invited to help run, with real customers and a real job to do.

Residents will have the opportunity to work behind the counter as baristas: setting up in the morning, preparing the café, taking orders, making drinks and serving the people who come through the village each day. For many, that means the return of something they have not had in a long time. A routine, a reason to get up, a role that other people rely on, and the quiet satisfaction of having contributed.

This sits at the heart of person-centred care. Rather than defining people by the support they need, it recognises the ordinary things that give a day its shape: choice, purpose, conversation, and the dignity of doing meaningful work.

That's the substance of a good life, and the principle The Village Bean is designed around.

More than a café

The café will host a rolling programme of events through the year, giving the village a reason to come together beyond the daily coffee run. Autumn treats, charity fundraising days, and music and singalong afternoons are already in the diary, with seasonal events and community get-togethers to follow.

About Standish Care Village

Standish Care Village, near Wigan, is Millennium Care's flagship site, bringing together several of the Group's care homes on one shared campus with communal spaces designed for residents, families and the local community to use together. Millennium Care operates homes across the North West and holds B Corp certification, meeting independently verified standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. Local groups and community organisations in Standish are welcome to get in touch about getting involved.