The Attic (Bantry Youth Café) opened in January 2006 in response to the lack of youth facilities in the Bantry area.  Set up by West Cork Community Partnership and now funded in partnership with the HSE, the Youth Café offers a safe place for teenagers to socialise as well as providing access to healthy food and drinks at an affordable price. The café sells juices, smoothies, and milkshakes. It also stocks a range of snack foods such as sesame sticks, chocolate raisins, peanuts and fruit. 

The Attic is open to all young people between 14-19 years of age but actively seeks to engage with the most vulnerable and marginalised young people in the community.

The 'Youth Café' concept is relatively new to Ireland.  It acts as a consistent point of contact for young people, offering a variety of flexible services that can shift focus in order to meet the needs of young people in the local area. 

The Fruity Friday Initiative is a new element to the café whereby fruit is provided free of charge to young people who would not buy it otherwise.  A local food supplier has agreed to sponsor this programme and delivers free fruit every Friday.  As a result up to 100 young people now have access to a wide selection of fresh fruit every week.

The Attic seeks to assist other communities to learn from their experience and have already hosted four planning groups from Cork and Dublin.

Contact Details:

Lorraine O'Donovan,

Project Co-ordinator,

The Attic,

Bantry Youth Café,

No. 9 Marino Street,

Bantry, 

West Cork.

T: 027 56856

www.bantryyouth.net/attic

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