Can Connect

Youth Cafe

We have a weekly Youth Café group running in the centre. Our P4-P7 Youth Café runs on a Sunday evening from 6.30pm to 8.00pm and our S1-S3 Youth Café runs on a Thursday from 7.30pm to 9.00pm.

We also offer Youth Work School Holiday programmes. This Summer, we offered 38 sessions over 6 weeks, most of which were absolutely free!

Training Kitchen

Our Training Kitchen also offers 3 weekly sessions aimed at disadvantaged people to learn to cook healthy and nutritious meals on any budget and those interested in a career in the catering industry.

Carrick Connections

Our Carrick Connections group supports young people with additional support needs to become more confident & independent individuals. Through our weekly workshops, we offer a number of subjects including Cookery, Photography, Art & Crafts, The Great Outdoors and Digital Design. All the sessions are delivered with the intention of increasing confidence and independence whilst learning new skills and having fun. Both the participants and their families/carers have reported the massive social benefit of the group.

Development Programme

We also support young people aged 16-29 through our various development programmes in place within the centre. Individuals are given the opportunity to have a meaningful experience in Hospitality, Professional Cookery, Maintenance, Gardening, Youth Work, Administration and Digital Design and Marketing. We aim to have a Personal Development Plan in place for each person participating within the programme, which focuses on employability, social inclusion and their personal development. We offer free accredited training in-line with individual plans to assist with future employability.

The centres 90 plus volunteers, many of whom are retired, also help to support our young people.

We have developed excellent relationships with the local schools and are currently supporting 9 Carrick Academy pupils on work placements.

We are also active partners in our local Community Learning Partnership which allows us to work on collaborative projects with multi-agency practitioners in close partnership to achieve shared goals and avoid any duplication of service.