THE Youth Café in Tavistock is celebrating after receiving a cheque for £7,000 from Devon County Council.
The money has been awarded by Devon county councillor Roy Connelly from the West Devon County Committee budget — a fund set up to allocate grants to local community groups or projects that will make a big difference to people's lives.
The money will be used to support the running of youth work and new sessions for the young people of Tavistock and its district.
Cllr Connelly, who is chairman of the West Devon committee, said: 'I am especially pleased to be able to fund those sessions and activities which young people from the locality have devised themselves — particularly those sessions planned to support young people to identify ways to raise funds for the youth café, both through local fundraising and by increasing the café's income.'
Cllr Connelly said these activities were important because they contributed to the long term sustainability of the café.
Tavistock Youth Café is currently open four sessions a week offering a range of youth work sessions. It is hoped that the money will enable organisers to open the door more often to more people in the future.
The youth café is a voluntary community group and is run by a board consisting largely of young people.
Abby Buckley, who manages the project, said: 'I am delighted by the news as it means that young people are going to be given more opportunities to enjoy a safe, fun and friendly environment where they can access professional qualified CRB checked youth workers.'
She expressed thanks to Roy Connelly and Sonia Burgess for all their support in the past.
'It's fantastic to know that county councillors are behind the young people of Tavistock,' said Abby.