A LONG-awaited drop-in facility for teenagers and young people in Okehampton is set to open its doors in time for the start of the summer holidays. Work is due to finish in the middle of next month to create the youth café for Okehampton in St James Street. Young people will be asked to give their input to ensure the facility is fully equipped to meet their needs when it opens in the last week of July. The youth café now has a name ? it is to be known as Room 13. It will serve as an informal meeting space and could include a coffee bar, pool table, games and activities, internet access and a chill-out seating area. The venue will also enable young people to get access to information and advice about issues affecting their lives. Devon Youth Service, which currently operates out of the Carlton Centre, will be transferring to the new building, and says young people will be able to get advice on a range of issues that may be affecting their lives, such as drugs, sex and eating disorders. The need for a ?youth space? in Okehampton was first identified by Outloud ? then known as Okehampton Teens and Tweenies ? back in 1999 when the group carried out a youth appraisal. The Rev Philip Wagstaff, who has been involved with the project for the last five years, said young people had a key role in developing the exciting project. ?It will be somewhere for young people to meet, hang out and talk with each other. It is hopefully a place where they will feel comfortable and able to talk to the advice agencies if they need to.? Pippa St John Cooper, West Devon Youth Service co-ordinator, said there was a growing sense of excitement about the project from those who would use it. ?The Outloud group are working closely with us to help with the design work, as well as doing fundraising to promote the project.? The café will cater for a wide range of ages and the building has been renovated to provide full disabled access. A number of funding partners worked to secure the premises for this use, including West Devon Borough Council, Devon County Council and the Okehampton United Non Ecclesiastical Trust. West Devon mayor Cllr Peter Hill said: ?It is a much needed facility for the young people of Okehampton and I know that many organisations, including West Devon have worked very hard to achieve it.?
