The Rendezvous

The Rendezvous For recreation there was a camp canteen where brewers sold beer under contract but nothing else.

The Rendezvous is managed by the Church of England, Soldiers', Sailors' & Airmen's Clubs (CESSAC) a registered charity, that provides alcohol free, homely and welcoming centres as a welfare facility primarily for service personnel and their families CESSAC Formation and History

In the 1800s the army provided little comfort and welfare for the soldier outside his barrack room which in itself was p

rimitive and had few bathing facilities. So it was that in 1857, a Church of England Institute was opened in South Camp Aldershot aimed at giving men somewhere to go for peace and quiet. A donation of £1000 was made by the Minister for War towards the provision of a place where Chaplains could meet the men on a friendly footing. The facility did not last for long and it was not until the 1880s that the idea really caught on when a group of officers including a Chaplain, hired rooms in Aldershot Union Street and then built the Victoria Institute nearby. The institute provided refreshments (but no intoxicants); hot baths, games rooms and quiet rooms and was a place where any soldier was welcome whatever his belief. By the 1970’s only one club remained at Dhekelia in Cyprus.

1972, with only one centre in Cyprus to manage, the CESSAC Council decided to re-focus on rented housing for elderly ex-service personnel and their partners and the Church of England Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Housing Association (CESSA HA) was formed as a non profit-making Housing Association registered with the Registrar of Industrial/Friendly Societies under charitable rules. It also registered with the Housing Corporation, a Government agency at that time that ensured public money provided for housing is used properly and wisely. The success of the Aldershot Institute was so great that others quickly followed in the main military towns and then overseas. In 1891 the Church of England Institutes were formed under the Companies’ Act to coordinate the activities of the Association of Institutes and a fund raising campaign was initiated to expand the movement. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family became Patrons of the Association and by 1917 there were 105 Institutes worldwide. In 1902 the name was expanded to “Soldiers’ and Sailors’” and then in 1930, when the number of Institutes had fallen to 31 to “Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Institutes. In 1958 Clubs was preferred to Institutes in the title and CESSAC came into being.

01/09/2026

We are back open and are starting the week with a loaded fries special 🍟

10/08/2026
Special for the week:Hunters BBQ chicken & bacon pitta
20/07/2026

Special for the week:
Hunters BBQ chicken & bacon pitta

NEW Drink available, Peach Ice Tea. Perfect to cool you down this week in the heat 🥵
07/07/2026

NEW Drink available, Peach Ice Tea. Perfect to cool you down this week in the heat 🥵

Pop in and cool down with our summer drinks, smoothies, frappes and iced lattes available 🥵
24/06/2026

Pop in and cool down with our summer drinks, smoothies, frappes and iced lattes available 🥵

23/06/2026

Due to the temperature in the kitchen today, we will not be making hot food on Wednesday or Thursday this week. Cold sandwiches, paninis, toasties and jacket potatoes all available

Cold options during the hot weather we are going to be having this week.
22/06/2026

Cold options during the hot weather we are going to be having this week.

Our opening hours for this weekend
18/06/2026

Our opening hours for this weekend

Address

The Rendezvous Cafe, Steele Block, Blandford Camp
Blandford Forum
DT118RH

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 1:45pm
Tuesday 8am - 1:45pm
Wednesday 8am - 1:45pm
Thursday 8am - 1:45pm
Friday 8am - 1pm

Telephone

+441258450853

Website

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