Youth Projects’ social enterprise café – The Little Social – set to open at the Victorian Pride Centre

Little Social cafe staff and VPC staff and volunteers at new cafe site

The Victorian Pride Centre is excited to announce the highly-anticipated opening of social enterprise café ‘The Little Social’ on Monday 12 December!

We are proud to be partnering with independent non-profit organisation Youth Projects to bring ‘The Little Social’ to the Pride Centre as a warm and inviting space where LGBTIQ+ communities can connect. The café will provide training and work opportunities for young people experiencing disadvantage and social, education and work disengagement.

The Little Social café is the perfect addition to the diverse mix of organisations and services at the Pride Centre. The Little Social takes the centre’s purpose of being an inclusive, vibrant and welcoming place where our communities can connect to the next level. We know how important this sense of connection is for our mental health and well-being, and what better way to connect than over a hot beverage of choice.
– Justine Dalla Riva, CEO Victorian Pride Centre

Our shared goals and common purpose to help community realise their full potential makes us very proud to be partnering with the Victorian Pride Centre to open our newest social enterprise café. The Little Social will create a safe, inclusive, and social space for the rainbow and wider community to gather, collaborate and drive real change for the community.”
– Ben Vasiliou, CEO of Youth Projects.

At The Little Social, each young person is provided with hands-on skills development and mentoring from industry experts and is immersed in an affirming experience from which they can build self-confidence and gain key employability skills in a wholly supportive and judgment-free environment.

Along the way, the Youth Projects team supports young people to achieve micro-credentials, like Barista and Food Handling certificates. Individually, they develop amazing work skills, social skills, improved personal routines and organisational skills.

Youth Projects is acutely aware of the needs of LGBTIQ+ communities, and are vigorously focused on issues of diversity and acceptance, embracing the needs, goals, and aspirations of LGBTIQ+ people.

The Little Social at the Victorian Pride Centre will be much more than just coffee & food. It will open new pathways for young people to help recover from the pandemic, create job opportunities in a safe and supportive environment, and improve social connectedness and reduce social isolation for the community more broadly,” shares Ben Vasiliou, CEO of Youth Projects.

We look forward to seeing you at The Little Social, opening on December 12 at the Victorian Pride Centre, 79-81 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda.

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday – 8am to 2pm

Read more about The Little Social here