YOUNG people in Yate welcomed the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, to their youth venue to showcase the town’s facility.


Mr Maude visited the Armadillo Yate Youth Cafe on Thursday, February 12 to take a tour of the facility by volunteers of the cafe, and meet Yate councillors and the young people who use the facility to learn about youth engagement in the area.


MP Steve Webb also attended the visit to the social space for young people aged between 11 and 19, on Station Road, and was shown a short film made by young people from the cafe called ‘Yate is Great’, a documentary promoting Yate.


Mr Maude said: “It really is a fantastic place here, and it’s clearly really enjoyed by many of the young people here today.


“I do think it’s important for towns to have these social enterprises and what’s great is that you can see the work that has been put in to make this happen, and to keep the facilities going.


“The facility has a lot to offer and you can see the many social entrepreneurs working hard in the cafe, and the other rooms and activities, to engage the young people.”


Mr Webb said:”I think it was a great opportunity for Francis to come and see what’s going on here and especially talk to some of the volunteers and young people.

"It was great to hear feedback from them, and what really came across was the mutual respect here between all the young people and the staff and a sense of ownership.


“Now it’s case of getting more people to come along and use the cafe and cinema."


Ryan Dunford, 15, from Yate, who uses the venue, said: “I really like it here, I’ve been helping out volunteering for a while now and I like coming to the cafe because it’s a really good way to make friends.

"I've met lots of people since coming here and many of them don't go to my school so it's good to meet new people.


“There’s so much to do, you can play outside or just come in for a chat and especially on weekends, I love coming here to talk to people.”


To find out more about the venue and the 'Yate is Great' film visit www.yatearmadillo.co.uk.