Youth club and café to close for refurbishment

The Hub will be refurbished with money from the Newport Youth Cafe Project and the Asda Foundation.

A Newport youth club and café is closing for refurbishment, with work expected to be completed later in November.

The town council-run charity behind The Hub, off St Mary's Street, earlier this year awarded a £25,000 contract to KRM for new windows and doors.

Money to pay for the refurbishment, which is being done next week, is coming from a £23,202 grant that the Newport Youth Cafe Project received from the Asda Foundation and £10,755.90 from general reserves.

In a meeting on Wednesday, town clerk Jo Reay said: "We have done a lot in such a short period of time. I think we are definitely on the right track."

The town council took over as sole trustee five years ago and revised what it does two years ago.

A review of the last year showed that it is open more often, is used by 21 regular community groups, and some 75 young people regularly attend its after-school safe space.

It has seen 36 young people graduate from its Pathways café training programme.

Deputy mayor Bill Harper praised the team, saying: "I am very proud of all the efforts."

The meeting was told that the café is having "ups and downs" but is "doing OK" in terms of business.

During next week's closure, staff will undertake training and the café menu will be updated.

The refurbishment forms part of a wider Asda Foundation initiative, which has invested more than £1.2 million to improve 65 community spaces across the UK through its Investing in Spaces and Places grants.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.