Thanks to £50,000 raised in funding, work is near completion on a new cyber café facility in Bungay for young people of the town.
The project is being lead by the Bungay Youth Partnership with help from the Town Council.
The Bunka, aptly named as the youth facility, will occupy the basement of the premises at the top of Bridge Street.
Young people of Bungay have been involved in the decision making in how it is decorated and run, and what they would like from the centre.
Chairman of the Bungay Youth Partnership, Simon Thompson, said the project has taken around two years to get to this stage.
“The building was most recently a kebab shop. We took it over about a year ago with the idea of turning it into a youth and community venture,” he said. “The idea is that the young people will run it and there will be youth workers on hand to supervise. At the end of the day the main aim is to get the young people running it for themselves.”
Some features that will be found in The Bunka are: a kitchen, an internet café and a snug where youngsters can sit and watch television, disabled access and toilet facilities. There will also be a small hair salon where youngsters may have an opportunity to do apprenticeships.
Bungay mayor John Warnes, who toured the facility recently, said: “I think this is a wonderful idea for the young people of the town.”
The Bunka committee member Dani Sewell, age 16, said: “This is a really good idea and I think people will use it. It is going to be somewhere warm where people can come and relax and watch television.”
The funding for the project has come from many sources including The Youth Opportunities Scheme, The Community Cashback Scheme, The Suffolk Foundation, The Rural Economy Scheme and The Geoffrey Watling Charity.
It is now time for the young people of Bungay to get behind The Bunka project and make it a success!
WVB-LT
