TIME is set to go backwards in The House Of Avalon, which opens in York next month in a bid to change people’s lives.

The chic new seven-day-a-week vintage clothing and coffee shop in High Petergate is set to create new job opportunities and add to York’s café culture.

More importantly, The House Of Avalon is a social enterprise project by The Avalon Group, a northern based, not-for-profit, charitable organisation working with adults who need support to live the life they choose, including people with learning disabilities, mental health needs, and older adults.

Alongside three paid employment positions, including project manager Violet Heslop, there will also be an opportunity for up to six trainees, who might not otherwise have had access to employment opportunities, to undertake NVQ and work-based training.

It will occupy empty premises at 5 High Petergate, from May 1, and will consist of a stylish café area alongside a vintage couture clothes room with its own resident vintage hairstylist. The quirky retail outlet will sell classic vintage clothing and accessories in styles associated with fashion dating between 1910 and the swinging 1960s.

A big opening launch is planned with a 1940s theme, including a “special guest star appearance” plus Hollywood star look-a-likes, cupcakes, a jazz band and coffee on sale at old-style 20p prices.

Angelina Fixter, Avalon’s chief executive, said that in spite of the high-fashion image, prices would be reasonable to appeal to the wider general public and student market, with classic Hollywood movies screened in the background.

She said: “The House Of Avalon will go down a storm in York. It’s perfect for the discerning local residents; shoppers, tourists, and students that we already know come into the area.”