| The Boomerang Cafe, which celebrated its launch as a five-nights-a-week venue at the weekend, has doubled its intake of young teenagers since opening at the start of last month.
What began as a two-nights-a-week facility on Friday and Saturday, with around 15 kids going along, now sees almost 30 youths thronging the venue and more volunteer helpers are needed.
The cafe is part of the Boomerang project, which was set up in 2000 to provide support to the whole of the Stobswell community.
The organisation hit the headlines when it was chosen as one of the projects to be supported by Secret Millionaire Roisin Isaacs, and a new youth group was set up last year as a response to growing fears over gangs of youths congregating in the Stobswell area with nothing to do.
Funding for the cafe for the older kids of the neighbourhood was secured from the Provident Good Neighbour Fund in November.
This has secured the services of two new youth workers for three years, along with equipment and support and allowed the cafe to open at the start of February.
Boomerang organiser Neil Ellis said, “This is a joint venture between The Web Project and Boomerang to provide services for young people where they can meet and socialise in a safe environment off the street. It will be a social gathering place which will be seen by the youths as ‘their place’.
“The youth cafe has been open two evenings per week (Friday and Saturday) since the beginning of February and a large group of young people attend each evening and take advantage of a number of activities and have access to information. Activities include a gaming system, pool, table hockey, music, television, snacks, and a range of soft drinks.
“There was some suspicion from the local youth to start with. We had been doing outreach work in the streets and we kept getting asked, ‘Why are you doing it?’
“The answer was that there was just nowhere for them to go. They were hanging about and just getting moved from one street corner to the next by the police. There was nothing else for them, now there is.”
Neil is now appealing for more volunteers to help with the increasing numbers attending.
“We had 27 kids in on Saturday and could do with all the help we can get to keep those youngsters off the street,” he added.
Boomerang has also been working with younger kids (8-12) for the past year with a view to integrating them into the cafe project.
In the Channel 4 programme, Secret Millionaire Roisin Isaacs spent a week in Dundee living on Jobseekers Allowance, and afterwards donated funds to a number or organisations. The £7500 Boomerang received has been used to refurbish a former second-hand clothes shop at 1 Pitkerro Road, with funds left over for maintenance and utility bills.
The Boomerang Project has previously received support from the Evening Telegraph’s Make A Difference campaign.
Further funding from The Big Lottery Fund allowed the opening of the doors of the new premises in April on a Wednesday evening for a girls only group.
Neil said, “A total of 20 teenagers have used the premises for educational and leisure activities throughout this time and this group have evolved into the Young Volunteers at Boomerang.
“A group of Young Volunteers have formed a management committee for the youth work and are in the process of developing the youth facility according to the needs of the members.”
“We are now looking for volunteers who can spare a few hours on a Friday and Saturday evening to assist in our work with the youths.”
Anyone interested can contact Neil at Boomerang on 455656 or 456610. |
