Evergreen Court gets a special visitor as its café serves up good food and community support

The Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire paid a visit to one of Wiltshire Council's flagship sheltered housing complexes to see its range of facilities and its community café.

Mrs Sarah Troughton visited Evergreen Court in Amesbury and met the husband and wife team who manage the Evergreen Café, which can be found at the complex. The café is run by Brett and Rufaro Mavunga, and they have fully immersed themselves and their business in the local community, and it has become a popular haunt in the area. As well as serving up delicious food, the café has also provided free cooking lessons for children, sponsored local sports teams, and supported key workers with a cup of tea or coffee if they pay the complex a visit.

The Lord-Lieutenant also saw the state-of-the-art sheltered housing facilities at Evergreen Court, which were built in 2018. The facility contains 60 one and two bedroomed flats for those aged 55 years over. As well as the café, other communal facilities include gardens, a guest room, residents' lounge, laundry, hairdresser service, activity and meeting rooms.

Cllr Phil Alford, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Housing, said:

We are always more than happy to show people around Evergreen Court as we are incredibly proud of what has been achieved.  We have set ourselves a very high standard of what affordable older peoples' accommodation will look like in the future. The café has played a vital role in bringing people of all ages from the local community closer together.

The facilities at Evergreen Court are top notch and we're always looking for opportunities to be able to replicate that in other areas where we can. Our aim is to ensure older people in Wiltshire are able to live in suitable, affordable and comfortable environments, that will enable them to live independently for as long as possible.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Mrs Sarah Troughton, said:

It was an absolute pleasure to visit the Evergreen Café which is part of Evergreen Court in Amesbury. Brett and Rufaro Mavunga produce seriously delicious food for a wide range of residents and locals and the atmosphere is one of kindness and generosity.

Wiltshire Council, which runs Evergreen Court 's Sheltered Housing, should be rightly proud that this project makes a real difference to people's lives.

Brett and Rufaro Mavunga, said:

In all humility, we feel really honoured to have had a visit from the Lord Lieutenant, standing next to and serving her, and having a laugh. That put us on a very high pedestal. We never see ourselves as deserving such a privilege, so we would want to say thank you very much for honouring us.

Our Christian ethics teach us to be hospitable and to love, give and share with everyone around us; and that is all we are trying to exemplify. The Amesbury community welcomed us when the cafe doors opened and made us to be part of them, and is befitting to give back in our own little way.

If we can bring a smile to one person's face daily, that would be a very great accomplishment. We will keep striving to do more and better at serving and spreading good cheer around us