ROC Café on The Rock in East Bury - official launch
Thursday December 2nd saw the launch of the ROC Café on The Rock in Bury. The ROC Café is a multi-agency youth club and there are now 3 of these running in Greater Manchester. Despite the heavy snow and freezing temperature we arrived at Bury Fire Station, the location of the ROC Café, to find a mass of activity. On driving into the forecourt we saw media lights had been set up to take photos. A fire engine was ready with the hose pipe and I was asked to wear the fire fighters uniform and helmet for the photo shoot. Lee Coleman, Bury Fire Station manager, was there (even though it was his day off), as was Andy Brookes from the Fire Service Senior Management team. Both were delighted that the ROC Café was opening in the fire station.
“From a Bury Borough Fire & Rescue perspective, the ROC Café on The Rock is a fantastic opportunity for the Fire & Rescue Service to work in collaboration with our partners including the evangelical churches, to influence the young people within our community and improve social cohesion. The ROC café has provided us with a real prospect of protecting and influencing the quality of life for the young people within Bury ultimately assisting us to reduce the incidents of anti-social behaviour and improve relationships.”
- Lee Coleman, Bury Fire Station Manager
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Jon Rush, Divisional Commander for Bury police, was also delighted to be there at the launch. Bury Police have been a key partner in getting the ROC Cafe off to a flying start and many of his officers and PCSO’s attended the launch. Chief Inspector Charlotte Cadden first had the idea to call the club ROC on The Rock when I visited her a few months ago and we walked around the town centre together looking for a suitable venue. The main road through the new centre is called the Rock and the name for the café seemed perfect. I was so struck by Charlotte’s passion and commitment to see the project becoming a reality. She quickly made contact with Ste Wilkinson from Freedom Church and Rod Fairbrother, himself an ex-police officer, from Bury Fellowship and they started to plan the Café.
The newly refurbished ROC Café is equipped with sofas, pool and table tennis, a coffee bar, X box and Wii games. Lee Coleman said that the fire fighters had already volunteered to teach life skills as part of the project. PCSO Sam said she was really excited that the place had opened and that she had been busy painting the venue to get it ready for the launch.
  Councillor Jackie Harris from Bury Council and a member of the Fire Authority said that she was impressed with the new youth facility and would like to see them in other locations. Chief Inspector Carol Martin said she would love to see a ROC Café in Radcliffe and a meeting has been arranged for January 23rd to discuss this further.
One of the main highlights of the evening was the young people themselves. Officers searched the town for any young people who had braved the weather and they brought them to the cafe. Somewhere to chill out, the ROC Café strap line, seemed to take on a whole new meaning!
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