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From Youth Café to Community Change: How a Small Youth Grant Made a Big Difference
How a small youth grant administered by HEY Smile Foundation made a difference.
"The grant funding we received helped us run a youth cafe over the summer"
This small grant funding enabled the youth club to create a welcoming space where young people could come together, learn new skills and build confidence. "six young people were trained up to do food hygiene certificates and run the cafe"
One of the first things the funding enabled was to kickstart a refurbishment of their kitchen, which was completed in October 2025. This has been a vital investment and has opened up many more opportunities for food-based and community-led activities.
Building skills and confidence
- As part of the summer youth café:
- Six young people completed food hygiene training
- Young people were actively involved in running the café
The café became a space for creativity and fun, hosting a silent disco, live music performances, and karaoke
These experiences weren’t just social — they supported real progression. One young person has since secured work in a café, and several others have used their involvement as evidence on CVs and college, university or job applications. This is why investment in youth is so important
What’s grown since the summer
- The impact of the project didn’t stop when the café closed.
- They are now in discussions with the council about hosting a youth group on their behalf in the new year
- They are planning to run the youth café again in 2026, building on what we’ve learned
- A new healthy eating project is now running in teir church hall, focused on cooking on a budget
- Everyone involved in delivering this project originally met through the summer youth café
The grant has also helped them build new connections with the public, raise our profile locally, and generate new income opportunities.
Youth-led creativity: Battle of the Bands
One exciting spin-off from the summer project is a Battle of the Bands event, being organised by a young person in Year 12 who joined us during the summer. This is a brilliant example of young people taking the lead and turning confidence into action. -
Find out more here including how to get involved.
Next Steps
One of the key challenges identified through the project was getting the word out widely enough and ensuring the offer reached as many people as possible.
Reflecting on this, the youth club has shared that if the café runs again, they would like to develop it further into a community café model, with young people actively supporting delivery and helping to shape a broader, more inclusive offer for the local community.
How this learning is already shaping new activity
- This reflection has already led to positive next steps:
- From the New Year, the group will be hosting an Open House every Thursday from 10.30am–12pm
- Anyone is welcome to drop in for a coffee and biscuit
- With enough volunteer support, they hope to extend the offer to include a wider range of food
Looking ahead, the group also has ambitions to create a dedicated youth space at All Saints Brough or within the church hall. This would include access to the kitchen so young people can prepare food together, alongside a more focused youth group offer for those aged 11+, following learning that the café model alone was too broad to support a youth group to fully develop.
This project shows how a single grant can create lasting ripple effects — from skills and employment, to new partnerships, new programmes, and stronger community connections.
