“We are so appreciative of all of the support and advice provided to us by Sefa. They have been incredibly helpful over the last five years as we have navigated our way through the funding process, purchasing the property for our community centre, and the services we provide.”
The Cage Youth Foundation was formed in 2001 by Linda and Peter Grieve. They began by providing youth social events in Redland City skate parks and schools. This evolved into a youth space and has since expanded to include education and training.
The Cage exists to make a positive difference, particularly for youth of Redland Bay but also for families and other people in crisis.
The Cage had been keen to purchase a home base for a number of years and were introduced to Sefa by Community Sector Banking in 2013, as they had minimal equity to contribute towards a purchase. An approval was provided at this time however purchase of that site fell through.
The Cage moved to their current premises in 2014 and the property owner agreed to grant an option to purchase. Although supportive of The Cage’s work, the seller did not wish to enter into a vendor finance arrangement.
After three years and with the option to purchase expiring, The Cage reached out to Sefa for help to complete the purchase with the equity/deposit they had raised to date. A bespoke loan was approved that included loan repayments matching their current rental payments. After five years of planning, the Cage were finally able to own their home base.
The Cage is evolving into a one stop shop of community support. Their current projects, support services and facilities include;
FACILITIES • Multi-purpose centre • Supervised youth space • Counselling building • Public toilets • Children’s playground • Ziggy’s coffee bar • Kitchen • Garden BBQ facilities – with wood fired pizza oven
SERVICES & PROJECTS • Social enterprise works team offering a lawn mowing service and general maintenance • Get set for work programs • Tailored school programs • Counselling services • Crisis care & support • People centred support and advocacy services • Sunday church services • Community kids club • Amped youth group
With the ownership of the site, The Cage will continue to invest more into upgrades and expansions, which will allow them to further grow their operations and social impact.
