OK, this is awesome…

Since the moment Dock Cafe opened its doors, everyone’s favourite window & preferred sofa has been the one at the corner looking out onto SS Nomadic.  The little tender ship is, hands-down the best living link to Titanic anywhere in the world, a hugely evocative piece of history as well as being a gorgeous sight in her own right.  She was built by the same men, using the same metal, the same rivets, the same design features as Titanic and her sister ships.  She carried some of Titanic’s best-known passengers from Cherbourg harbour to board the mighty liner.  She acted in all sorts of other capacities – tender, troop-ship, restaurant, cinema – through a long, varied, turbulent century of service.  And now she’s sitting, 100 years later, right on the spot where she was fitted out and sent on her way in  May 1911.  Amazing.

And now – the Dock gets to be part of the Nomadic story.  The restoration team – who are doing an incredible job of refurbishing the ship to her 1911 glory after the batterings of a century – have asked for our help.  The teak railings, bannisters and doors which were fitted during the exterior renovation are in danger of drying out while work continues on the interior.  And so, as next-door neighbours, we’ve offered to help out – and the offer has been gratefully accepted.

So, are you up for it, people of The Dock?  We’re talking about a once-a-month trip onto Nomadic, on a dry day (yes they do happen in Belfast), armed with equipment and teak oil which will be provided by the restoration team, and elbow-grease which will be provided by us.  The team, and the day-of-the-week, will probably change month-by-month as we fit in with the weather and the availability of volunteers.  But if you’d like to be part of the gang, just send me a message, and we’ll be in touch with times and details as each Nomadic Day approaches.

You won’t be committing yourself to anything, and if you’re not free for every session don’t worry.  But if you want to be a small part of this amazing Nomadic tale – if you want to sense the shiver of history as you step on board to play a part in her story – get in touch.

(And PS – sorry for the late notice, but if anyone is around the TQ at 11am tomorrow and able to call into Dock Cafe, we’ll have a rather special visitor calling in for a cuppa and a scone.   He wears some serious bling around his neck, and he’s coming to the end of a very eventful year… guess who it is yet?!)

Apologies for a bit of a delay updating the blog – what a week!  Hopefully you’ve been able to keep track of things on the Dock Facebook page or through Twitter – if not, check in and start following @thedocktq straight away!

Things got off to a nice early start on Wednesday as we supplied breakfast for the brave souls setting out to cycle 300 miles between Belfast and Cobh (Titanic’s last port of call) for the Christian Aid Titanic Cycle Challenge.  After bacon butties and coffee, we marked the start of the cycle by wetting the wheels of the bikes with some good (clean….?!) Lagan water at the exact spot where Titanic slid off the slipways and touched water ro the first time…

It wasn’t just a week of early starts – late nights featured too…  Dock Cafe was the venue for some of the events in the superb No More Traffik On Our Streets campaign – raising awareness of the shocking reality of human trafficking in our society.  On Wednesday we heard some Stories of Hope – of those who had been rescued from a life of slavery, and stories of some of the organisations bringing transformation in cultures where trafficking is rife.

On Thursday we hosted a Chocolate and Fashion night – a fashion show and a chocolate-tasting session promoting products which have been ethically produced – nobody exploited in an anonymous production chain hidden behind a temptingly-cheap high street price.

This was followed by the premiere of The Pink Room, a new movie on the subject of trafficking, and a question-and-answer session with its director.

And on Friday the concrete walls, columns and surfaces of the cafe were used to project some superb artwork and photography – many of the photos taken as part of a project by Tim Doak, a Belfast-based photographer (who has some work on display in Dock Cafe, natch!)  who was in Cambodia to teach photography to girls rescued from sex trafficking.

Most exciting moment of the week: when the doors opened every night and the people just kept coming…and coming… and coming… (we had over 250 squeezed into the cafe on Thursday night!)

Most hilarious moment of the week: trying to fit the huge wooden-block letters from the photography exhibition into the back of a Ford Ka…

(solution: come back with a van the next morning…)

Most challenging moment of the week: too many to mention.  It was a real eye-opener for me personally to hear some of the stories and realise how much of a reality this issue is.  Right here in Belfast we’ve heard of convictions for trafficking offences in recent weeks – so we can’t pretend that it’s a problem that just happens elsewhere in the world.  So can I really encourage you to click on the link to the No More Traffik site and get involved.

Here at the Dock we try to keep telling Good News Stories about Belfast – and it’s amazing how many there are when you start to look.  Last week I was at an event in the Waterfront – the launch of ROC (Redeeming Our Communities) in Northern Ireland – an organisation which seeks to link together and energise anyone seeking to transform their local community.  The event – as hosted by Jim off of The Apprentice, no less! – was full of stories of good news – the difference that people can make when they work together.

And more stories this week: this is NoMoreTraffik week – a campaign taking a stand against human trafficking – more details here.  You maybe heard that the week of events kicked off with a flash mob in Belfast City Centre last Saturday:

– and continues throughout the week with a fantastic lineup of acts and creative stuff.  And the best news is that two of them are happening in Dock Cafe! – on Wednesday night we’re hosting ‘Stories of Hope’ at 8pm.  Lynda Bryans (UTV) will be sharing at the event, we will have amazing music from New Irish as well as stories from the International Justice Mission and Migrant Help. We will also have some excellent local photography and your chance to share your stories of hope for Belfast; that it will become one of many, many slavery free cities.  There will be no charge for the event and we’ll even throw in a cup of tea and a bun!  More details here

Then on Thursday at 7:30 we’re hosting a Chocolate and Fashion night – an evening of scrumptious fairtrade treats, including chocolate cakes, buns, cupcakes and even chocolate infused SAUSAGES! The A21 Campaign brings a sense of style to the evening with a Fair trade Fashion show with clothes designed & modelled by the students from Belfast Metropolitan College & Queens. With live music adding to the ambiance of the evening – come along to hear more about how you can join us in the fight to take the bitter taste of slavery out of our chocolate & by being informed about where your fashion comes from!  More details here

Just got word today that there could be an art event on Friday night as well – watch this space for more…

And still on the theme of good news, on Saturday i had the great pleasure of being present at the Run4Unity at Stormont Estate.  The Run4Unity gang had been in Dock Cafe a few weeks ago for one of their preparation sessions – the cafe was filled with colour and chat as they prepared banners, dance routines, songs…

And all their prep came good on Saturday – a glorious sun-kissed day at Stormont as the runners set off down that famous driveway – a mixture of different backgrounds, accents, nationalities and colours – united by the fun of doing something together and going for a run on a glorious afternoon in Belfast!

Good news – everywhere you look…

One of the Dock gang just spotted this video on Secret Belfast – an impromptu acoustic session in Dock Cafe last week – it’s fantastic!

Yep we’re back from a fabulous week in La France, chilling out in a variety of Parisian cafes, brasseries, gardens and Seine-side benches – bliss!

One thing really struck me about the Parisian culture: they are wonderfully social people.  They have a great way of splitting up the day: nice long lingering breakfast in the local neighbourhood boulangerie, fresh coffee and croissants.  Then nice long lingering lunch with friends from work, a few courses, a glass of wine, a short shot of coffee.  Then nice long lingering dinner avec famille, carafe of wine, much fine food, often in the open air under the stars in little sidestreet brasseries and restaurants.  All split up with nice long lingering breaks in coffee shops and creperies throughout the day.

It’s not that they work less hard than us (I don’t think) – they just seem to enjoy life so much more – spending the day eating, chatting, laughing, prioritising good food and good company over the demands of a To Do list.  Maybe I’m looking at them through rose-tinted specs – but it was a very admirable and enjoyable pace of life to taste for a week!

And it’s helped to come home to the beautiful, wonderful, social space of Dock Cafe with a new perspective: it’s very Parisian! – in the cafe we try to have that same space and time for good company, good food, good coffee, and space to enjoy life away from the rat race.  Will we have to change the motto – ‘La Vie Dans Le Quartier Titanique’…?!

It’s good to be back!