Free weekly sessions for young people restarted at Smokey Joe's on Bennington Street on Thursday 3 September, 3.30pm to 6pm, running through October half term.
Cheltenham’s Youth Cafe restarted on Thursday 3 September. It runs every Thursday afternoon at Smokey Joe’s in the town centre, it is free to get into, and every young person who comes gets a voucher for a food and drink item on arrival. Sessions will keep running through the October half term. (Cheltenham Borough Council, 2 September 2026)
The practical details
- When: every Thursday, 3.30pm to 6pm, including through October half term
- Where: Smokey Joe’s, 15 to 16 Bennington Street, Cheltenham, GL50 4ED (Food Standards Agency register)
- Cost: free, plus a food and drink voucher for each young person on entry
- Included: the venue’s vintage arcade video games at no cost
- Drop-in: young people can come and go through the session
- Extras: some weeks bring in The Music Works and Escape Rooms Cheltenham
The sessions are run by No Child Left Behind, which describes itself as a project in Cheltenham set up to help young people thrive after 2018 figures put around 4,400 children and young people in the town in poverty. Youth work at the cafe is delivered by Springbank Community Group CiC and The Rock Cheltenham. (No Child Left Behind)
Why the town has one
The cafe exists because young people asked for it. Springbank Community Group CiC ran a consultation at the Cambray Carnival in September 2025 as part of No Child Left Behind’s Year of Youth Action. The finding was blunt: there was no affordable, dedicated space in the town centre where young people could gather safely. (No Child Left Behind, 10 February 2026)
A seven-week pilot followed. It ran every Thursday from 12 February to 2 April 2026, funded with almost £10,000 from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Problem Solving fund, secured by Cheltenham’s Community Safety Partnership and No Child Left Behind. The Music Works had already spent four weeks doing outreach on the High Street to tell young people it was coming, and Cheltenham Police’s neighbourhood team supported the sessions.
Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Evans set out the reasoning when the pilot launched. “The Minster and Cheltenham’s Lower High Street have been identified as a hotspot location for anti-social behaviour due to drug dealing, drug use and alcohol consumption, as well as concerns for young people,” he said. “We’re taking a direct, preventative approach by putting support in the right place at the right times for vulnerable people.”
What has changed since the pilot
The sessions now finish at 6pm rather than 6.30pm. The council has not published an end date for this run, where the pilot was announced as seven weeks with a fixed close.
The money has changed too. This run is funded by Cheltenham Borough Council, with further funding secured from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire. That second tranche pays for a daytime youth cafe session on top of the Thursday afternoon one, aimed at giving partner agencies somewhere to meet the young people they already work with. The council has not yet published a day or a time for the daytime session.
Councillor Jamie Jamieson, cabinet member for safety and communities, said the pilot “showed just how important it is to have a safe, welcoming space for young people in the town centre”. Nick Evans said the funding “fills the gap after so many safe places for young people have been lost over the years”.
What it means for you
If you have a teenager in Cheltenham, this is a free, supervised, town centre place to be on a Thursday after school, with qualified youth workers present and no requirement to book or to spend anything.
If you run a local organisation that works with young people, No Child Left Behind is asking to hear from anyone who wants to support or take part. The council’s announcement gives an email address for the NCLB team. (Cheltenham Borough Council)
If you are planning the rest of the week, our guide to things to do in Cheltenham covers what else is on, and parking in Cheltenham sets out the town centre car parks and their charges.
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