The National Youth Agency: Myplace

RICHMOND YOUTH PARTNERSHIP KCAFE PROJECT

Key principle: Young people's outcomes - impacting on young people's lives, particularly those living within deprived communities and those who would not otherwise participate in positive activities.

The KCafe grew from regular sessions run by Richmond Youth Partnership's Youth Cafe Bus project - a mobile outreach project. One of the stops was at Kings Field Park where a disused pavilion offered potential for development. More than three years of consultation, planning and fundraising followed with the cafe opening in spring 2008 as a youth project by young people for the community. The new building will allow young people to access youth provision that not only gives them a safe place to hang out but also access to cafe facilities, sexual health facilities, advice and information, group space and a chance to have a say and be involved in how the project runs and develops. Young people who have been involved in the development of the cafe have gained a number of positive outcomes, including being listened to and taken seriously, a sense of achievement in securing decent facilities and equipment, and real ownership of the project. Young people also successfully put together a bid to the Youth Capital Fund for furnishings and equipment for the cafe.