Re-Red

As I said, I was helping at the community cafe yesterday. It's run in Red Cafe, the property owned by Linden Church and the home of our youth project.

Red Cafe has been running for six years now. It's in the middle of the Mumbles Mile - a procession of pubs along the sea front - and was opened to provide a safe meeting place for young teenagers. Since then it's diversified and offers alternative education - music making, environmental issues, outdoor pursuits, etc - for teenagers on the verge of being excluded from school.

Since last summer the cafe has been open during the day in school holidays as a community cafe, with a special focus on being child-friendly. The cafe is still manned by volunteers but in spite of our occasional slip-ups, our clientele is steadily increasing.

It's always been Red policy to encourage an ethical lifestyle, offering choices that include organic and fair trade goods. And much of the furniture is sourced from local manufacturers who use recycled materials.

One half of the cafe is a typical cafe with tables (made from old washing machine drums) and chairs, while the other half has a play area and sofas (made from I-don't-know-what-but-something).

The counter is made from old bits of wood and re-created glass, and its surface used to be cups from vending machines and plastic bottles.