Project

A training cafe selling local food for young people aged 13-25 to gain a catering qualification

What does your charity/project do?

Seize the Moment is set up to empower young people living in isolated areas of rural North Devon. The Seize cafe has been set up in what was a derelict former council tennis pavilion and public WC. The building and land had been neglected since 2007 when the public toilets were closed. Young people from Seize the moment have worked as volunteers to redecorate and renovate the building and the grounds outside. We have removed the old toilets and built a new community garden to supply produce.

How does your charity/project support the local community?

We have provided a safe attractive garden and cafe for the community to enjoy in an area which was plagued by vandalism and anti social behavior. The cafe is situated in the community garden and we serve low cost local food which has been prepared by young people training to gain qualifications in catering. We involve the community in the design of the garden and the cafe training is offered free to anyone in receipt of benefits. The local crime rate has dropped since the project began.

What do you plan to use the CommunityForce award for?

The award would be spent on providing extra training places for 6 young people for 1 year. At present we have spaces for a maximum of 12 people per week and have a waiting list. We would like to offer a further training day for a further 6 participants to enable more young people to benefit from this work based training. We would use £1,200 to purchase rain cover for customers to sit outside the cafe in bad weather.