Every weekday afternoon, students from Wildern and Deer Park secondary schools pass by St Luke’s Church in Hedge End. Around ten years ago, the church opened its doors to them with a Youth Café offering pizza, toasties and milkshakes.
Today, more than 100 young people gather each Thursday between 3 and 4pm. It’s a free drop-in space where they can meet friends, relax, chat and unwind after school.
Beyond the food, church members are on hand to listen, chat and build relationships. Conversations often range from everyday concerns to questions about faith, sometimes leading to requests for prayer.
Revd Ben Jones explains, “We love providing a safe space where young people can come, hang out with their mates and have fun, and we love the fact that it starts to be a place where they feel at home and comfortable. Many wouldn’t go into a church otherwise, yet we hear them saying things like, ‘this is my church’, or ‘I’m going to church on Thursday’. Maybe it’s that first step of being in a church where they feel welcomed and accepted that might help them take tentative steps to begin exploring the journey of faith.”
Running the café is a team effort. Around 14 volunteers prepare food, set up tables and welcome students as they arrive.
Ben Coleman, Youth Ministry Co-ordinator at St Luke’s, highlights the importance of the space. “We’re in an age where there’s so much tech and it’s easy to go home from school and just stay texting your friends and something like this brings everyone out. It gives them that ‘third space’ that people say we’re losing, where you can meet new people. There’s no advertising. They just come and meet with their friends, but I think the main thing is that it gives community.”
Information about other church activities, including the youth group ‘Junction 7’ is shared on screens. Some Youth Cafe regulars have gone on to attend Youth Alpha, join the youth group or go along to Sunday services.
For the young people themselves, many say the Youth Café is a highlight of the week. Lydia, 12, said, “I like coming because it’s nice. You can express your feelings and talk about anything.”
Emily, 13, adds, “I started attending Sunday services after coming here. I talked to the old youth leader Maddy, and she invited me to ‘Junction 7’, and I found my faith here. It’s a really important part of my life.”
Reece, 16, said, “It’s just beautiful here. The environment is so good, everyone is so nice. I speak to the team quite a bit and the food is amazing.”
The Youth Café has also stayed in the minds of former students who recognise the love the church has shown.
Rose Spink, who leads the Youth Café, recalls, “I met two former pupils near Waterloo Station who recognised me as ‘the Youth Café lady.’ They told me it had been the highlight of their week. Others ask if we’re still running it and encourage us to keep doing it.”
She added, “It’s so important for young people to have a space where they can ask questions and be themselves. They often think they need to talk about faith, but they can talk about anything. For a lot of them, they say it’s just a place they can come and chat and there are not many spaces for youth anymore. I think it’s important for the church to show that they can come in.”
St Luke’s has longstanding links with local primary schools through assemblies and Open the Book visits. It means many of those who come to the Youth Café already know the team. Youth worker Ben also mentors students at both secondary schools.
He reflects, “I remember when I was their age, I found it very awkward to even mention that I went to church. Now they’ll get a call from their mum and say, ‘I’m at church mum, I’ve got to go,’ so it’s very normal.
“Many of them face challenges at school and they open up to us about those struggles. It means we can give them a helpful perspective into the parts of their lives that they might need a bit of support in and make great connections.”
The Youth Café costs around £3,000 a year to run. The church has previously obtained grants from local businesses, charities and donations from local people as well as practical gifts such as cutlery and plates.
This year an appeal for help from the congregation led to enough funding for the year.
Revd Ben continued, “These young people are amazing. Some of them struggle at school but here there’s no trouble. We treat them with kindness and respect and obviously we’re providing something that they want, and I think that’s amazing.
“It takes a lot of effort to run the Youth Cafe, but it is absolutely worth it. It’s the most rewarding time of the week.”
Rose added, “We all go home tired, but we all feel that we’ve helped encourage them. We pray for them to get a little spark from something they see and experience here, that a seed of faith is sown and that they might discover something of God’s love and welcome.”
As exam season approaches, messages of encouragement and the assurance of prayer are shared on the church screens, reminding students they are supported and loved.
