PEOPLE living in the Tang Hall area of York have received an early Christmas present with the opening of a new after-school café aimed at bringing the community together.

The café will be launched this week and will then open every Friday afternoon in the new year.

Charli Martin, who works at York Elim Church, has spearheaded the move to create a welcoming space for the local area.

“It’s about bringing everyone together, especially from the Tang Hall community, but the café is open to everyone” she said.

The café is due to officially open at the beginning of next year at the Tang Hall Community Centre, with the help of One Voice York, an umbrella Christian organisation aimed at promoting collaboration between local churches.

In an Open Day forum held at the Community Centre last September, a survey of those who attended showed support for a café and more activities for families and children.

Previously, Miss Martin ran a youth club at the Elim offices in Lawrence Street, which provided a space for young people, with activities.

“Whenever they used to see the lights on, the teenagers would come in and play on the Wii or the Xbox”, she said.

The café will be launched at a special event at 3pm this Friday, with food, crafts and an appearance by Santa.

It will then be open in the new year every Friday, from 3pm to 6pm. Snacks, hot drinks and possibly toasties are to be provided, alongside small craft activities for children and young families.

Tang Hall Community Centre has recently been hailed as a good example for others across the city to follow, amid concerns around funding for some. Organisers at some centres, including Foxwood and Chapelfields, have warned that City of York Council funding cuts could force them to close or reduce services.

As reported yesterday, calls will be made this week for planned funding cuts to the community centres to be scrapped.

The centres in Foxwood and Chapelfields have said they face closure if they lose their City of York Council grants, with the authority planning to remove £140,000 of support in 2014/15 following a £40,000 cut this year.

The Liberal Democrats said Oaken Grove Community Centre was also affected by the reductions, and its leader, Coun Keith Aspden, will use Thursday night’s full council meeting to press the ruling Labour group to drop next year's grant reductions and address the concerns of the centres.