The cafe and shop will be closing at the end of this college term, on 12th July, and the post office in six months’ time, at the end of the contract.
The cost of providing these services has risen substantially and has become too significant for the organisation to carry. The funding we receive is for the young people we serve, and we must now look to utilise the space we have to ensure the greatest benefit for them.
We have made this decision for a number of reasons. One of these is external financial pressures.
We are aware that this will have an impact on the local community, however, our priority is to focus all resources on developing the best opportunities for our young people, and we have some exciting plans for September. We are keen to develop a more adult environment for young people, including a canteen, which would also be for staff and visitors, including parents and carers. This will be a curriculum area for young people where they will have the opportunity to gain employment experience, in a similar way to working in the cafe, but with the chance to gain a wider variety of skills relevant to the workplace.
The shop will continue to be a public facing space so that those young people pursuing customer services and catering can continue to develop the skills needed. You’ll be aware that corner shops are starting to disappear as people now shop in a different way. We plan to use this space to sell goods made and grown by our young people, such as bread, cakes, sandwiches, market garden produce plants and flowers. There will also be a range of takeaway options, all prepared by the students as part of their curriculum.
The outside play areas, animals and seating will remain, and we are looking at setting up and running enterprise opportunities to deliver produce to the local community. These changes will increase the opportunities available to students. We will also be looking into the possibility of installing Amazon parcel lockers and other mail systems, which our young people will be able to maintain, so that they have the opportunity to experience more current employability skills.
We are more than happy to meet with people to discuss the changes and the reasons behind them in more detail.
