Spirit of the Rainbow Heron

The Storybook Cafe

“If you can’t look on the bright side, I will sit with you in the dark”
– The Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland

The Storybook Café in Sheffield was set up to provide a safe space for people with mental health issues to come and relax, chat and feel supported by their peers.

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The Storybook Café was set up by Amy Metcalf to provide a safe space for people with mental health issues to come and relax, chat and feel supported by their peers. She also provided creative activities to help guests to practice self-care – such as cupcake decorating, origami, letter writing, calligraphy practice, adult colouring – as well as the many books that form the Storybook library.
“We are able to open up conversations about mental health issues and other (intersecting) disadvantages – through discussing novels and their characters and how they generate empathy – and encourage collaboration between groups who are working towards furthering the discussion of mental health and reducing stigma.”
The project started with a year’s funding from Unlimited and The Prince’s Trust and met weekly at Unity Yoga. There was a small but growing band of regulars who came to chat, drink tea and relax. The Rainbow Heron Small Grants Fund Trustees were proud to support the development of the Storybook Café for 12 months from September 2017. From November 2017, the Storybook Café moved to larger premises at the lovely Mugen Tea House – which also hosts poetry evenings and other events.
The Storybook Café has helped guests by giving the opportunity to meet new people and expand their support group; the project also uses creative activity to help people overcome social anxiety and more easily connect with others.

The Storybook Café is now operating as an online hub www.thestorybookcafe.org/blog/
which provides access to many more people.
Read more about the revamped Storybook Café, for conversations, book reviews, podcasts, self-care gifts, self-help books, support directory and more (for example, “how to create a Bad Day Plan”)*
www.thestorybookcafe.org/blog/
(Just click on the three lines at the top left of the page to see the menu.)

“Explore, enjoy and we hope you find something that helps. And remember to be kind to yourself.” [Amy and the Storybook Café team]
Find out more:
Email [email protected]
Facebook www.facebook.com/thestorybookcafe

*The profit from gifts goes back into the cafe so that all the activities remain free