No secret to Sconetime

And apart from a few months during Covid, Sconetime has run every month since with the help of generous sponsors and selfless volunteers.

“Sirah Robb from Wythes Real Estate has been on board from the start. She’s amazing. She’s been sponsoring the hall since day dot.

“Vanessa from Rambling Rose Flowers Cooroy has been doing the flowers for Sconetime ever since the start. She scattered rose petals all over the tables for Valentine’s Day.

the Cooroy RSL for lunch every month after every Sconetime to decompress, debrief and also create a friendship with everyone.

“Volunteer Helen Duncan donated her mum’s Royal Albert tea set at the start and then she started volunteering.

“She’s incredible; she’s at every Sconetime in her gorgeous outfit. I call her our mascot because everyone bails her up on the street to ask about Sconetime.”

Martin said he looks forward to Cooroy Sconetime every month.

THERE is a secret to a good scone – but there is no secret to why Cooroy’s favourite senior event is so successful.

Sconetime at Cooroy Memorial Hall is a celebrated monthly event with more than 150 attending the most recent, and first, Sconetime for 2023.

Host Martin Duncan aka Sunshine Coast Foodie said he was blown away by the attendance at the Valentine’s Day Sconetime.

“It was amazing. We had so many beautiful seniors come and I met them all at the door to give them a chocolate, and my favourite regulars got a cuddle.”

Martin is the man in the apron behind Sconetime which started in Cooroy and has now spread, with quarterly events in Buderim and Beerwah, and monthly in Caloundra.

With a long career in desserts, Martin said he started Sconetime after he saw a video that gave him the idea.

“I had dessert cafes in Brisbane for 18 years and then a luxury accommoda- tion and cooking school on the Sunshine Coast for eight years.

“I used to make scones in my dessert cafes and host networking mornings to connect traders.

“But it was a video that popped up on Facebook one day about a woman in Scotland who had no family and was lonely and through tea parties she brought other elderly folk together, which gave me the idea for Sconetime.

“Loneliness and disconnect are so huge in our commu- nity and that’s what Sconetime is all about – it is about connecting people.

“But it’s more than that. At Sconetime we do scones with the community, businesses and community groups and it is that mix that makes it so special.

“Sconetime is not about ego; it is about doing something for the community.”

Martin held the first Sconetime in June 2018 to coincide with the first event held in the Cooroy Memorial Hall after it had undergone renovations.

“Traecy from Noosa Black Coffee supplies her coffee grown on her phenomenal property at Kin Kin.

“And Peter Wolfe from Cedar Creek Farm Bushfoods makes jam. We buy strawberries from local producers and he makes batches every month for Sconetime.

“It’s also about showcasing local producers doing something fabulous.”

And Sconetime wouldn’t be Sconetime without Martin’s team of volunteers.

“All our volunteers are amazing. I take them out to

“Cooroy just has this gorgeous energy. It has a real soul, which I love.

“We have the most beautiful seniors. I love their stories. We have Elsie who is now 101 and Joyce who is 96 and comes to every Sconetime – she has only ever missed one.”

The next Sconetime is on Tuesday 14 March at Cooroy Memorial Hall from 10 am.

And in case you were wondering … egg and yoghurt is the secret to a moist and nutritious scone,” Martin said.