Young people who live or go to school in Wymondham will soon have a place where they can go to unwind, relax and socialise.Wymondham Youth Café is set to open next month and will be held at the Rothbury Community Hall in Rothbury Road.

Young people who live or go to school in Wymondham will soon have a place where they can go to unwind, relax and socialise.

Wymondham Youth Café is set to open next month and will be held at the Rothbury Community Hall in Rothbury Road.

There will be an official launch on September 6 from 11am to 2pm and people young and old are welcome to see the youth café before it opens on September 15 at 7pm.

The venue will be open to any young person from Year 7 to the age of 19 who lives in Wymondham or goes to Wymondham High School or Wymondham College. It will provide a drop-in venue where young people can go to unwind and relax, socialise and have something to eat or drink.

There are no entry or membership fees to enable young people to call in to see a youth worker if they need advice or someone to talk to. The youth café will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3.15pm to 5.15pm and on Mondays and Fridays from 7pm to 9pm.

Jane Bartram, chairman of Wymondham youth venue action group, said that a need for a youth café was first identified in November 2004 when a local police community support officer, concerned about the number of young people congregating at the Market Cross with nowhere else to go, asked young people to fill in a questionnaire about what sort of facilities they would like.

She said: “The Rothbury Community Hall fits the bill and Wymondham Town Council have very kindly undertaken to pay the rent for the first three years of it being open.

“Wymondham youth venue action group was set up last year to raise funds and manage the youth café. It includes young and adult volunteers, youth workers, teachers, the community police team and councillors.”

“In addition to the funding from the town council, young people have themselves raised over £2300 and we have received financial and other help from the mayor's charity, O2, Barclays Bank, Wymondham Lions, Norfolk Trucks, Waitrose, John Lewis, Williams Lea, Wymondham Freight Services, the Friends of Wymondham High School and the Norfolk Youth Fund. We are extremely grateful to all these people for their support.

“The youth café will be run by the young people themselves, with the help of qualified youth workers and volunteers. The young people, themselves, will run the café side of things as a profit-making enterprise that feeds money into the whole facility.”