By Dave Fagg
Community worker at St Matthew’s Church
godfoodpeople.orgt

Bit of a good news story for you all, involving a few of my favourite things: my neighbourhood of Long Gully, coffee, creative community action.

Many of my Long Gully neighbours will know Gar, who runs the Long Gully post office. He is a gentleman, and very helpful to all his customers. Late last year, Gar was seriously injured in a violent hold-up of the post office. He was attacked with a steel bar, and spent a few days in hospital. Not good. Worse, the attacker was a regular customer.

When this happened, I thought Gar would sell the business and move out. Who wants to be bashed at their place of work, by one of your customers?! But no; Gar and his wife Shen are made of sterner stuff. I had a chat with them a few months ago, and they said that they had asked themselves “What would make us feel safer at the post office?”. More people in the shop was their answer. But how to do that?

Long Gully Post OfficeThen, at a community networking event last month at St Matthew’s, I was lamenting the lack of a coffee shop in Long Gully. (This is a pet whinge of mine, and I’ve lived in hope for the last 10 years that one will open – just a little one…doesn’t need to be a hipster one with stupidly-named lunch options. Just a place to get a coffee. It never has. I got my hopes up 3 years ago when a shop across the road was renovated as a cafe, then never opened.) Anyway, Gar piped up and announced that he and Shen were opening a cafe at the post office. That was their answer to feeling safer in their community – do something that the community needs, and also meets theirs.

This week, it is open! Rock up between 8.30am-12.30pm, Monday – Friday for a tasty coffee. I’ve road tested it, and it’s good. They’ll also be doing renovations soon to open a hole in the wall. Get along there!