Young People at the Heart of the New Bold & Brave Café in Taunton Library – Opening 7^th June

Following the success of the Bold & Brave shop, Young Somerset are excited to announce the opening of their brand-new enterprise - the Bold & Brave Café. The Bold & Brave Café will be within Taunton Library, run through a partnership agreement with Somerset Council, and provide the opportunity for young people to breathe life into this vital community space that has been closed for over three years.

The Café will open from 10am Wednesday 7^th June with the official launch event on Saturday 17^th June. Previous Bake-Off contestant and former local Headteacher Val Stones will join café staff, local partners and residents at 1pm to celebrate the opening. We would love to see you there, too.

The Bold & Brave Story

The Bold & Brave enterprise began with the Bold & Brave shop, located in Taunton’s Independent Quarter, which has been a community hub for young people since its opening in October 2021. The shop sells quality, handmade (by young people) and locally sourced gifts, whilst supporting young people of Somerset to create their own products, develop their businesses, host workshops, and meet community partners. Over the last 18 months the shop has supported 30 young entrepreneurs to sell their products and hosted almost 40 young people on work experience, many of whom were not in education, employment, or training. We are working with these young people to believe they can achieve and empowering them to put this into action.

Now, an agreement has been formed with Somerset Council for Bold & Brave to expand and take on the running of the Café at Taunton Library. The café will not only provide reasonably priced hot and cold drinks, cakes, pastries, cream teas, paninis, and savory snacks, but will also enable us to offer more opportunities, training, and qualifications to local young people. Young people working and volunteering in the café will receive barista training, as well as specialist support to improve their confidence, communication, and further work-place skills. Bold & Brave will also work alongside other local businesses to enable smooth transitions for these young people into paid employment in the hospitality industry. We are also teaming up with local suppliers such as Brazier Coffee Roaster from Wellington and Dough Bakers in Taunton, to provide quality, local food, and drinks.

Young Somerset are excited for all this venture will involve and are committed to supporting young people, as well as working with the library service and local businesses to improve the offer for library users and increase footfall.

Nik Harwood, Chief Executive of Young Somerset, said, “I am delighted that we are reopening the café in Taunton Library under the remit of our Bold & Brave Enterprise work. This will both serve a community need and support young people to gain core skills – confidence, communication, teamwork – as well as specific employability skills related to customer service and hospitality. This is an exciting partnership with Somerset Council which will develop into the future.”

Are you a young person interested in work experience at the Café? Please contact [email protected] to express your interest and we will be in touch.

More information on the café, including our address and opening times, can be found on the Bold & Brave webpage here, as well as on our Bold & Brave Facebook page.