Cup of tea. A chat
We can help with that.
Selby’s local mental health drop-in centre and a growing network of trained venues across town. No referral, no waiting list, no awkward forms. Just someone on the other end of the line who knows where you are.
Cup of tea. A chat
We can help with that.
Selby’s local mental health drop-in centre and a growing network of trained venues across town. No referral, no waiting list, no awkward forms. Just someone on the other end of the line who knows where you are.
Four ways in. Same warm
room.
The Centre
Our local team are on the line Monday to Friday. If we're busy with another call, you'll be routed to Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust so you're never left holding.
The drop-in
A warm room, soft chairs, a bookshelf, a kettle that's basically never off. Come for a brew, stay for help with a form, a benefit, a phone bill or a feeling you can't quite name.
The café network
Cafés, shops, GP surgeries, leisure centres, libraries and churches, each one with someone trained to listen. Just walk in, you're welcome.
The training
We train the people already on Selby's front line — baristas, librarians, vicars, shopkeepers — so a hard moment in any corner of town meets a kind ear, not a cold one.
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
A long time ago, the thing I needed most was the price of a brew.
My mental health wasn’t great. My friends were brilliant, they’d meet me whenever, but always in a cafe. And there were weeks I just couldn’t afford the cup of tea I needed to sit down with them.
So we made up a motto: “Cup of tea and a chat? We can help with that.” What if a network of cafes had staff trained in mental health first aid? What if someone could just walk in?
Then COVID happened, and that network mattered more than ever. So we built it, properly. Today, with our local NHS Trust, that idea is a drop-in and a town full of trained ears. We’ll make the tea. We’ll do the listening.
THE CUP-OF-TEA NETWORK
Selby's listeners, trained up and already in the room.
We train the people you already see every week, baristas, shopkeepers, GP receptionists, librarians, leisure-centre staff, vicars, so that hard days meet kind ears in any corner of town.
Mental Health First Aid
Spot it, sit with it, signpost it. The basics, done well, by people on the ground
Suicide Prevention
Hard conversations done with care, not panic. Plain language, no scripts.
Safeguarding
Knowing what to do, who to ring, and what stays in the room.
A QUIET POUND DOING NOISY WORK
Support The Big
Communitea Centre your
way.
Every pound you give keeps the kettle on, the doors open and the support free. No middlemen, no fees, no fuss, just direct help for people in Selby who need it.
100% GOES STRAIGHT TO THE CENTRE