Young people to tackle wider community loneliness with cafe get together events

Following on from the successful Young Scot Youth Loneliness Bubble Tea project last year, young folk in the West Mainland are planning a couple of wider community get togethers for anyone looking for a bit of company, crafting, a cuppa and free food! 

Organised by the West Mainland Youth Achievement Groups, a “cosy” community cafe will run from the Stromness Community Centre on Friday 31 January from 5pm-7pm. A second date in February is to be confirmed. 

The groups – made up of the Dynamic Youth Group (ages 10-14) and the West Mainland Youth Achievement Group (ages 14+) will also be organising crafts, board games and inclusive hall games. Also on offer will be a free meal - soup, baked tatties with various fillings, sandwiches, tea/coffee/juice and baking (they will try to cater for all food allergies and no nut products will be included in the offering). 

Community Learning, Development and Employability’s, Youth and Family Learning Worker, Karen Bevan, said: “Everyone is welcome to come along – whether families or individuals, young and old. Folk can take part in as much or as little as they want – this is just about getting folk together especially for anyone feeling a bit isolated or lonely which can feel a bit exacerbated during the long, dark Orkney winter months.” 

The Orkney Youth Local Action Group have kindly agreed to fund the events.  

Karen said they were delighted to receive the offer of grant funding to enable the project to go ahead. She said: “Some of our group members were involved in the Youth Loneliness project we did with Young Scot last year and had always planned to expand on this in some way. We were lucky enough to receive the offer of grant funding from YLAG last week so can now run this project. 

“Members from the Young Scot Youth Loneliness project (Bubble Teas) have also asked to be involved so it’s great to see the young people themselves coming up with these ideas and wanting to participate in projects that will benefit wider communities. 

“Please come along if you can – not only will you be supporting our young people who are organising the events in their own time, but we hope that folk will find it lightsome meeting others for a blether, some crafting, games and food – and it’s all for free.”