Youth cafe officially opens

WARRINGTON’S long-awaited town centre Youth Café is officially opened today – and will be open for business tomorrow.
The café has been created in the former Car Phone Warehouse shop in Time Square and will provide a meeting place for young people.
Students from Warrington Collegiate will help run the premises, learning skills which will help them in their future employment, mainly working in the café and kitchen.
The idea of a town centre youth café was first conceived in June 2009 when the then leader of the council, Ian Marks, organised a meeting for councillors, officers and representatives of the business community and voluntary sector.
The original plan was to have a new building like the highly successful Bolton Lads and Girls Club.
Cllr Marks said: “We soon realised that neither public nor private money was as available as it had been in the past for a large new club. Warrington also has the Peace Centre and the Orford Park project, both with facilities for young people. These make our town different.
“But most importantly, the surveys carried out by the Impact Group and others showed that what Warrington’s young people wanted was a youth café in the town centre where people could just ‘hang out’.
“This was supported by the council’s ‘Things to Do and Places to Go’ scrutiny working group. So our focus shifted to setting up a town centre youth café.
“Now the hard work put in by lots of people has come to fruition, which is great. I wish the venture every success.”
Council leader Terry O’Neill said: “The fact that young people themselves from the college will be running the youth café is great news and illustrates the great partnership work that has gone into this project.
“I wish the students involved every success with their training and work at the café and look forward to visiting them there.”
Pictured: Some of the young people involved in the project, outside the new youth cafe