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Luton Borough Council

B1 Cafe

The b.1 cafe project is a new project which provides after school play facilities for hard to reach young people between the ages of 11 and 16.

The objective is to engage with young people who would normally not participate in play activities and provide not only a positive play environment, but also impact on self esteem, social skills and respect for others. The project will be run as play and will operate as an open drop in, with activities provided according to the interests of the young people such as music, games, football, pool table, arts and crafts, table tennis etc.

The project offers good value for money as it uses the existing excellent facilities of the b.1 cafe which are currently under used. The cafe is currently used as a base for follow on groups from therapeutic programmes with, for example, young people who self harm. The resource is currently open after school and at weekends to young people. The cafe is situated in Upper George Street, close to the town centre and provides three floors of activities including a fully equipped cafe, play area, drama studio, arts facilities and a small group meeting space.

The grant funds a staff member to run the facilities and develop the project, including outreach in local schools and the town centre to draw young people to the centre. Part of the grant also pays a proportion of running costs for the centre (utilities, etc). The project delivers approximately 16 hours of play per week, including a Saturday session. The grant will also cover some additional play equipment to compliment the existing resources at the cafe.

© 2024 Luton Council, Town Hall, Luton LU1 2BQ