Youth cafés are youth centred spaces for young people to chill and hang out with their friends in a safe and secure environment. They provide a vital safe space for young people to spend their time but they are also so much more than that. Young people in Foróige youth cafés take ownership of the café by electing a café committee who work with the other members and volunteers and staff to make things happen. A group might organise a pool tournament, a wii face off or a big band night for up and coming youth bands. Other cafés have film nights or undertake citizenship and other Foróige programmes.

The huge upsurge in communities requesting a youth café in their area has lead Foróige to look at a wide variety of options to meet the community’s needs while also being mindful that funding is not available to start a youth café in every town and village. Foróige has developed 3 models of youth café.

Youth Health Cafés are led by professional staff in a dedicated youth café space. These operate mainly in large towns and cities and are fully equipped with a range of services, including health related programmes.

Part-time Youth Cafés operate as part of an existing service, such as a Foróige project, youth service or youth information centre. Like other youth cafés, they operate outside normal working and school hours and offer a drop in service. These cafés are led jointly by the project youth workers and local adult volunteers. Young people who engage in the youth café can also avail of the wide range of services on offer in the project.

Volunteer Led Youth Cafés are the joint effort of local volunteers, organisations and young people. They sometimes have dedicated youth cafe premises but many are in rooms in community buildings hired for the evenings the cafe is open. Their opening hours depends on need and volunteer availability and range from one evening a week to several evenings, lunchtimes and Saturday afternoons.