Volunteers appeal by Norfolk church youth cafe 

An appeal has been made for new volunteers for a South Norfolk church youth café which is in danger of closure.

The Banham Youth Cafe has been running every Friday in term time for nearly 16 years, led by a team and volunteers from Integrate Youth For Christ
 
Integrate centre director, Steph Richardson, has issued an appeal for more volunteers and prayer support to help secure the café’s future.
 
Steph said: “The café is in danger of either having to move to once a fortnight or even close completely due to a lack of volunteers. We need a minimum of four adults, made up from a mixture of Integrate Youth for Christ staff and volunteers and, without the volunteers, we cannot have the adult to young person ratios needed to operate safely.
 
We currently regularly have around 30 lovely young people attending each week and, for many of them, the café is the highlight of their week and the only place they feel they can safely hang out with their friends. In the summer months, some of the young people also like to be outside, so it is vital to have at least two leaders inside and two outside.
 
“Running the youth café is an opportunity for us to demonstrate God's love for the young people and often gives us opportunities for deeper conversations around faith issues. We are therefore urgently asking people to firstly pray for new volunteers to be found, secondly to consider whether you or someone you know may be suitable to volunteer, and thirdly, for you to spread the word in your church.
 
“We are looking for volunteers who would commit to coming fortnightly or even every three weeks or once a month. Volunteers will need to either have a recent DBS through their church or be willing to undertake a DBS through us. Volunteers can choose whether to serve the tuck, run a craft/cooking activity or to generally engage with the youth.”
 
 If this is something you, or someone you know would be interested in, please contact steph@integrateyfc.org.uk.
 
See our previous story on this topic.

Pictured above is the Banham Youth Cafe.