The Cyber Cafe

Patron: The Lady Apsley

The Cyber Cafe nestles at the rear of the old Memorial Hospital with its entrance onto the Sheep Street car park.It is just opposite the air raid shelter and attracts young people from our community. The Cyber Cafe is a registered charity and managed by Churches Together in Cirencester.

The Cafe offers a chance to use computers, go on-line, do homework, meet friends, chill out, chat and have a cup of whatever soft drink/coffee/tea suits you at that moment. The group started quietly in October 2005 and has been going ever since. With a slight drop during the middle of the year, numbers have now risen and it is the coolest place to be seen. Thanks to a real effort being made to contact young people at our secondary schools, the Cafe looks set to go from strength to strength.

CIRENCESTER CYBER CAFÉ FOR YOUTH

   Paul writing to the church in Thessalonica (1Thess 2:7-8)
“….we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so
much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”

Evangelism is important to the work of the café but has to be done in a sensitive way and not forced on young people. The building of relationships is key and we are praying for more people to join our amazing team of volunteers at the café for two hours a week.

We try to emulate Paul in caring passionately for the young people God has called us to serve. The friendly welcome we give together with hot snacks and drinks helps the young people to relax and feel free to express themselves. As we hear about their lives, we in turn share some of ours and can share something of Jesus. On Fridays at 5.30pm we regularly see young people staying behind for prayer, and for the youth Alpha course.

The café was renovated last summer and we empowered the young people by giving them responsibility and ownership of the project.        
                                                                
Fundraising – the tireless fund raising efforts of John Roper has inspired many of the young people, and one has raised £1500 towards flat screen TV’s and a projector for live sporting events. The Waitrose Green Token Scheme has donated £230 which will buy a dishwasher. I am running the London Marathon on 26th April 2009 on behalf of CCC!

We were made incredibly welcome when we gave a presentation at three services at St Peter’s Catholic Church. Three of our young people spoke passionately about what the café meant to them. The church pledged us £550, and I hope soon to go into other churches in Cirencester.

Support: I’m keen to start a Parents’ Committee to get support from parents and volunteers. I am so grateful to our volunteers Gill, Pat, Betty, Maura, Therese, Joyce Paddy, Katie and Charley; without them we would not be able to open. I agree that the Christian ethos of CCC is best helped by Christian volunteers, but we have too few. Perhaps a Parents’ Committee could help us to identify non-Christian potential volunteers who have the right gifts.

  The Future – It’s exciting, and the possibilities for CCC are endless. We would love to increase opening hours; provide advice in areas of future careers, general information, health and relationships and at every opportunity point young people towards Jesus.                                   

Revd Vic Trykush (Youth Minister Baptist Church)

REVIEW OF THE CIRENCESTER CYBER CAFÉ FOR THE ANGLICAN CHURCHES    (2009-10)
 The Cirencester Cyber café was formed in 2005, to give young people a place to ‘hang out’ after school, offering a safe and mature environment while also letting them have fun and allowing them to express themselves.   The Cyber café has 5 computers, each with super fast Internet, two 37”  flat screen televisions, a 60” projector, a pool table and a number of games consoles.
    The Café is at the back of the old memorial hospital (in the rooms facing the back of Tesco), and run by Vic Trykush, an experienced youth worker with more than 15 years experience working with young people and the community. Vic is gratefully supported by 10 volunteers made up of people from various churches around Cirencester and young people who used to attend the Cyber café but now take an active role in running it.
    While it may seem as if we have a wide range of things for the young people to do there is always a grey cloud cast over the work of the Cyber café and the future of it.
  Funding is made up of donations from Cirencester Churches Together and fundraising; as you can appreciate this is not a reliable source of income specially during the current economic climate. It costs on average £50 every time we open after school (3 – 5pm); this money is for  heating, electricity and for the stock needed.
 The premises we occupy are provided by the council and while we are very grateful for them allowing us to use it, we are charged full rent a month, despite having charity status and providing a service for the community. 10 volunteers may seem like an able workforce but unfortunately it is not enough.
    Recently we have been trialling opening the café for sports events; such as the Champions league football, England football games and the six nations rugby and it has proved a huge success.   These openings have actually provided us with a profit which had never happened before.   In order to maintain this we need more volunteers, which is where you can help. If you are available to help after school or at a weekend please contact us. If not you can also help by giving a donation and spreading the word. Many thanks and God bless,            

Joe Harris, Youth Leader