Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen YMCA receives £3,500 to support members through ‘food crisis’ with warm space cafe

The cafe will be a safe, warm place for young people to meet in the community, keep warm, and get support during the colder months. 

Catherine and Gavin Begg outside the Aberdeen YMCA. Image: Lauren Taylor / DC Thomson.
Catherine and Gavin Begg outside the Aberdeen YMCA. Image: Lauren Taylor / DC Thomson.

An Aberdeen youth community centre has been granted funding to create a warm space cafe for its members later in the year.

Aberdeen YMCA supports children and teenagers from across the city through its various clubs and initiatives.

From September, the centre will be able to offer a warm space cafe to members after receiving £3,500 from the National Lottery.

The cafe will be a safe, warm place for young people to meet in the community, keep warm, and get support during the colder months.

Staff plan to provide members with free hot drinks and rolls while they’re there.

Gavin Begg, a youth worker at Aberdeen YMCA, said the warm space cafe will help “combat the food crisis”.

The centre has offered its members a foodbank-style service for a few years but plans to tie it in with the warm space cafe when it opens.

They receive most of their donations from a local bakery and Sainsbury’s.

Mr Begg says demand for the existing services has increased.

They currently support around 100 families around the city and see at least 50 children come through their doors every day.

He said: “What we do is try and support the families of the young people that come into the building and this warm space cafe is just additional help.

“The service is always busy, the primary school club that we do every day a lot of them are from single-parent families so money is tight – they’re trying to work and keep a family, it’s very difficult.

“So being able to support them is a really practical thing for us to be able to do.”

Gavin Begg with some of the young kids the YMCA helps support. Image: Gavin Begg / Aberdeen YMCA

‘Community activity in action’

The service has been running in Aberdeen since 1958 and Mr Begg has worked at the Aberdeen YMCA for 17 years.

He says that while there have been many changes, the community is still at the heart of the centre.

As well as the primary school club, the centre opens its doors to teenagers to give them a safe space to use their resources.

The staff are supporting members to grow and harvest their own food through an environmental project, as well as organise litter picks in the surrounding area.

They also help teens with CVs, applications and interview skills.

Kate Still, the National Lottery Community Fund Scotland chairwoman, said: “National Lottery funding can make amazing things happen in local communities across the country.

“This project delivered by Aberdeen YMCA, is a great example of community activity in action, showing just what can be achieved when people come together for a common cause or to help others.

“National Lottery players can be proud to know that the money they raise is helping to support this vital work which is making a real difference to so many.”

The warm space cafe will run from Aberdeen YMCA on Skene Terrace every Wednesday between 10.30am and 12pm from September 6.

Find out more about foodbanks you can access in your area here.

Conversation