Hansard

My purposes in initiating this debate on the Arbroath CAFE project are to praise its achievements and to encourage others to see the potential that is offered by this innovative and exciting community project. I welcome members and leaders of the Arbroath CAFE project who are present in the Scottish Parliament visitors gallery today.

The Arbroath CAFE project was established in 1996 following an open seminar on juvenile delinquency and concerns about how unemployment, social deprivation, poor housing, crime, alcohol and substance misuse were affecting the health, development and mental well-being of young people. There was a clear need in Angus for a positive alternative to life on the street, and for the creation of a place where young people could socialise and engage in a wide range of activities in a safe environment.

Within six months, the project had raised sufficient funds to lease, convert and renovate a former church and open its doors as an alcohol-free community environment. Now an established charity, it is open five days and six nights a week and provides a one-stop shop for leisure, culture, health, education and employment services, as well as outdoor activities for people under 25 years of age in Arbroath and Angus. The youth drop-in facility has more than 12,000 attendees a year and is open to everyone, including young people who have been before the children's hearings system or courts and those who are in residential care.

The CAFE project is founded on inclusiveness for all, equal opportunities, active citizenship and on resources to meet community need. Tony Andrews, when he was director of the British Council in Germany, described the CAFE project as

"extraordinary, innovative and inspiring in the way in which it reconnects young people with the mainstream—a model for working with disadvantaged young people".

The Angus CAFE project is both national and international in outlook. Over the past year, CAFE has been working with the British Council in Germany on its 15-nation dreams and teams programme, which aims to use sport—in particular football—to counter negative perceptions of other nations and to promote active citizenship among young people. Fact-finding exchanges have taken place between youth groups in Germany and the CAFE project, and young people from Arbroath took part in an international football tournament in Potsdam, Germany in August 2002.

A tripartite tournament, organised by the CAFE project is planned for 2003 in Angus and will involve teams from Scotland, Germany and Lithuania. At the invitation of the British Council in Germany, the CAFE project has taken on the responsibility of spreading the dreams and teams concept throughout Scotland.

Recognising the potential for dealing with social problems closer to home, the CAFE project is developing a national project—street football for all—that promotes sport, health, social inclusion, active citizenship, tolerance and, as a consequence, employability. Street football for all has been successful in Columbia, where it was developed as football for peace, and in Germany, where it was called street football for tolerance.

The CAFE project currently awaits the arrival of a portable pitch and trailer from Germany. With financial support from Scottish Enterprise Tayside and the safe Angus for everyone—SAFE—initiative, and with the help of volunteers, community police officers and community education workers, the pitch will be available for use by young people seven days a week. With a quickly assembled and easily transportable pitch, the game is self-contained and can be played on any surface. The pitch can be used for other sports, such as netball, unihoc, basketball, short tennis, badminton and touch rugby. It offers wheelchair access as well. This is truly availability for all.

The rules ensure that males and females can take part, and they also encourage socially acceptable behaviour between young people in their communities and other countries. There is no referee, only an adviser. Claims for penalties are resolved through negotiation and goals are awarded or deducted at the end of the match for good or bad sportsmanship. For example, goals are deducted for swearing, fouling, arguing and not applauding an opponent's goal. If those rules were applied to the Scottish Premier League, they would necessitate either much-improved conduct or a cricket scoreboard. After evaluation, funding will be sought to expand the project throughout Scotland if it is deemed worth while.

I emphasise to the minister and Parliament that the CAFE project is truly a local community project; 23-year-old Paul Hardie, who is with us in the gallery, started as a participant and is now chairman. He devotes 30 hours per week to the CAFE project in addition to his normal working week. The project's directors include an Arbroath solicitor, a bank manager, a businesswoman, a chartered accountant, a police constable and even the local sheriff, Norrie Stein, who has been a major driving force and inspiration behind the success of the initiative, which involves a range of local volunteers giving freely of their time and talents for their community.

The project is a living partnership that uses practical joined-up working. It shares premises with the Prince's Trust, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme, the positive action lifestyles—PALS—project, Angus under-21s health, Volunteer Centre Angus and other organisations, which cluster round the core project and involve literacy, numeracy and leisure-time activities. They have received funding from local, national and international sources.

All that and the nearby Oasis project are not there because Arbroath has more problems than other towns, but because it has discovered more solutions. I hope that those solutions will inspire and encourage other individuals and organisations into working together to provide their young people with positive motivation and resources for the overall good and well-being of our society and its young people.

I congratulate everyone who is involved in the CAFE project, wish them all success in future and commend their work to the national Parliament.