The message that faces you on the big yellow crane as you arrive in Dock Cafe kinda says it all.  It’s a bit of a mission statement.

EVERYONE is welcome.  That maybe goes without saying; I hope that every single person coming in through the doors of Dock Cafe feels safe, loved, welcomed and warm.  But it’s a bit of a scary world out there at the minute so I thought that it was just worth saying: EVERYONE is welcome.

One of the great joys of Dock Cafe is the great privilege of being part of this big chaotic multicultural jumble of human life.  It does my heart good to look out across the noisy babble of the Dock and see people from every culture, creed and community sharing a cuppa, a conversation and a good belly laugh.  If the global events of the last few weeks are making you anxious, I prescribe a visit to the Dock to just sit on a squashy sofa, being part of Life in the Titanic Quarter.  It’s good medicine.

Sometimes in the local news, the loudness of the tribal drums suggests that nothing really changes.  I look out across the Dock and I know that it does.  Sometimes in the global news, the proposed walls and closing borders suggest that welcoming the stranger isn’t worth the risk.  I look out across the Dock and I know that it is.

Every day we live with risk: that the Honesty Box will be abused, that our welcome will be spurned, that our friendship  will be taken for granted.  It is worth it.  For as much as we can play our part in building community life in this new part of Belfast, we will live with the risk – and the joy – of this core value: EVERYONE is welcome.

Two events in the next few days are a good example of the rubber hitting the road of this ethos: first, on Sunday night at 6pm in the cafe, it’s our monthly Sunday Nights At The Dock, which from the start has been an informal, coffee-fuelled, joyful exploration of what it means to worship and pray together across our denominational boundaries. This Sunday we’ll be starting a new series looking at ‘Roots Of Resilience’ – finding deep strength in stressful seasons – possibly timely!

Then on Monday night we’ll be starting The English Corner, our new weekly conversation classes for those learning English (please note the new start time of 4:45).

People gathering in a cafe for worship and prayer and good strong coffee on a Sunday evening; a team of teachers and students getting to grips with phrases like “bout ye, big lad” – it maybe does’t look world-changing.   But it gives me inexpressible hope that living with an open heart and attitude is possible.  And it’s better.  And it’s just more fun!

A new year means lots of new bright ideas at The Dock – and The English Corner is one of the brightest yet…

Lots of our customers in Dock Cafe come from all over the world – but for those who are settling here (and sometimes, for those who want to volunteer at Dock Cafe) there’s often a bit of a language barrier – especially when a bunch of Belfast locals get chatting to each other!

The English Corner will be led by Jackie, one of the Volunteers in the café.  She has been a teacher here in Northern Ireland for 30 years and has taught English to Chinese students in Jilin University, Changchun for 3 semesters, living in China for almost 2 years.  She has recruited a number of retired teachers to help in this project.
The idea is to give foreign students a class where they can practise and improve their English – and maybe even learn some ‘conversational Northern Irish’ as well!

So if having a bit of banter with yer wee mucker when it’s baltic out leaves you scundered and holding yer wheesht and saying “Here’s me wha?” rather than enjoying the craic, then catch yourself on and get stuck in!
(translation: if you haven’t a clue what any of this means, maybe the English Corner is for you!)

You can pick up an application form at Dock Cafe or click here:
English corner app final
All students must be aged 18 or over.  Classes will start at the beginning of February and you’ll also get to enjoy a mug of tasty soup and meet some new friends as well as practising your language skills.

Beezer!  Keep ‘er lit!

Coffee drinkers of the world rejoice… the doors of Dock Cafe are open, the kettle is on and life is returning to normal!

Call in soon to enjoy your first Honest Cuppa of 2017…

And big thanks to everyone who joined us on a glorious baltic afternoon to start the year in style at our New Years Dock Walk

As well as seeing the sights (including HMS Caroline back in her berth at Alexandra Dock, sunset over the Titanic Slipways and a new moon over Samson & Goliath), it was great to give thanks for 2016 and get inspiration for 2017 with such a fab bunch of people!

(thanks to Chris & Alan for some of the photos!)

New Year’s Day Dock Walk – meet at Dock Cafe @ 3:33pm

The Dock Walk was how the Dock project began all those years ago – a group of people meeting to walk, pray, explore and celebrate the emerging Titanic Quarter every Sunday afternoon (even when it was mostly just a building site).

Rain, hail or shine, off we trekked… Could we have dared to hope, as we embarked on those first walks, that within a few short years we would be part of an Honesty Box Cafe, a Pop-Up Market, a shared Chaplaincy project, and the explosion of Life in the Titanic Quarter!

So a Dock Walk is the perfect way to start a year – and to get ready for whatever surprises, changes, challenges and excitements 2017 may have in store for us.

We’ll meet at Dock Cafe at 3:33 (where we shall return for good strong coffee at the end of the walk).  Bring sensible shoes and a decent coat and be ready to walk 2-3 miles on easy flat ground (the walk will take us all around the Titanic Quarter and into the old shipyard).

See you there!

Well, what a year!  We’ve served our last cuppa of 2016 (Dock Cafe is now closed until 5th January 2017) – time to kick back, relax, reflect and give thanks for 2016.

It was a year where the world occasionally seemed to have turned upside-down around us – but where life in The Dock was full of heroes, hellos (and the occasional fond farewell), good laughs, good friends, good food, good ideas and good moves.

And last week we enjoyed our biggest-ever Titanic Christmas.  Candlelight provided 100% pure Christmassy atmosphere as we joined in carol-singing and prayer; Dock Cafe provided steaming hot punch and lots of cakes and goodies; Dock Market provided the chance for everyone to catch up on their Christmas shopping by purchasing some unique hand–crafted presents; and Santa and the Elves provided some wow–factor by arriving from the top of the ARC apartments, abseiling down the side of the building and then setting up in the Dock Prayer Garden to give out presents!

As always it has been a pleasure and a privilege to be at the heart of Life in the Titanic Quarter. Dock Cafe – with its unstintingly-amazing volunteers, its ever-friendly customers, its incredibly generous supporters – has been a daily miracle. Thanks to all of you who have been part of it.