Zacs and The Sycamore Project

Zac's is the result of an ambitious project undertaken by individuals from several churches in the Farnworth area. They recognised the need for more facilities for young people in the town and set up a registered charity - The Sycamore Project - to address the issue.

Farnworth is statistically one of the poorest towns in the UK. There are plenty of pubs, but very few venues for teenagers. Each year there seemed to be an ever increasing number of youths simply 'hanging around' on street corners. Many of the children were suffering from problems at home and had become easily lured into alcohol and drug abuse, anti social behavior and petty crime.

Our solution

The plan devised by the Sycamore Project was to create a 'cool' venue where young people could spend their leisure time AND get help and advice in dealing with youth problems, if they needed it. After several years of planning and vigorous fundraising, the Sycamore team were able to purchase and refurbish a dilapidated wine bar near Farnworth town centre. They named it Zac's Youth Bar.

Making the bar's 'non-alcoholic' evenings appealing for street-wise youths was a challenge, but it proved to be a great success. Over the years the Sycamore team have built on that success to create an invaluable local resource which is appreciated by both children and parents alike. Learning workshops were gradually introduced to help teens understand and manage the issues of drinking, drugs, anger and sex. A facility for entertaining children of pre-school age was set up, as were Holiday Clubs and specialist After-School Clubs. There is now a diverse agenda of 'Special Needs' activities for children with physical and/or learning disabilities and we provide support, help and guidance on a wide variety of youth concerns.

In 2007 the Sycamore Project celebrated it's 7th birthday. The project is continually growing, serving an ever increasing number of young people and hindered only by lack of funds and resources.

If would like to get involved with Zacs, the next page explains how individuals and businesses can help us.