Warm Spaces and a Warm Welcome at Thirst YouthCafe

Bishop's Stortford Youth Project supports over 500 local young people, aged 11-18, through open access and targeted youth work.

We run Thirst Youth Cafe for young people to meet and make friends, helping to reduce loneliness and social isolation and we provide fun activities to help increase happiness, wellbeing and mental health.

We journey with young people and WELCOME - ENGAGE - ENCOURAGE - EMPOWER them to develop their potential.

We provide a warm welcome, a warm space and currently we are providing FREE hot meals to support young people through the cost of living crisis.

It costs over £150,000 pa to run Bishop's Stortford Youth Project and we will use the money we raise from this campaign to keep the doors to Thirst Youth Cafe open so that we can continue to make a real difference to the lives of local young people.

Thank you for your support - it really will make a difference to the lives of local young people, aged 11 - 18 in Bishop's Stortford.

Bishop’s Stortford Youth Project aims to:

• Reduce loneliness and help avoid social isolation
• Increase self-confidence and self esteem
• Improve happiness, wellbeing and mental health
• Improve life and social skills and develop potential
• Increase independence 
• Inspire young people to find their voice
• Demonstrate positive, healthy relationships

We also help to:

• Improve attendance, participation and attainment at school 
• Reduce youth related crime and Antisocial behaviour in Bishop’s Stortford
• Improve perception of young people within Bishop’s Stortford and strengthen communities.

We can demonstrate our impact through our annual stakeholder survey 

In 2022  young people told us:

• 85%  ‘feel with friends’ at Thirst
• 63% come to Thirst ‘to meet and make friends’ 
• 51% come because it’s ‘welcoming & friendly’

“I love coming to Thirst to meet up with friends”  

“I’m less lonely and have friends who accept me for who I am”   

‘I never feel lonely at Thirst’    

• 88% feel ‘confident’, ‘included’ and ‘heard’

“Before coming to Thirst I was real nervous and not very confident, but since I’ve joined the volunteer scheme my confidence has gone up by 10 million per cent!”

“I’m more self-confident and not socially awkward anymore” 

“I’m now happy to express my opinions, even if others might not agree with them”

• 95% feel ‘happy’, ‘safe’, ‘relaxed’ at Thirst

“I can just be myself and chill here”

“I have fun at Thirst”  

“ I feel excited every time I go to Thirst”   

"It's good to have grown ups to talk to – I can ask for advice and help when I need it”

“It’s a great place to volunteer as I’m learning new skills and stuff for later life”

“Volunteering at Thirst has really helped my confidence and made me more independent”

• 60% of parents / carers in our 2022 survey said their young person ‘has learnt new skills’
• 70% agree ‘my young person is happier’
• 80% of parents/carers agree ‘my young person has become more independent’

• 97% of young people agree Thirst is ‘a safe place' 
• 97% would recommend Thirst to a friend

Thank you for helping us journey with young people aged 11 - 18 in Bishop's Stortford.