A 100-seater restaurant akin to a Toby Carvery or Harvester is planned to open in Faversham as part of a bold expansion plan at the town’s main community centre.

Boasting “quality food at affordable prices”, it is hoped to offer lower income families a local place to eat out.

The proposals for West Faversham Community Centre have been three years in the making and come as part of £1.2 million project to expand the Bysing Wood Road site by 40%.

A full-size dance studio, youth centre, nursery and multi-functional rooms are also planned, while the large restaurant will become a training hub for youngsters in both the kitchen and front of house.

James Browning, the centre’s CEO, said: “We’ll be offering a more affordable place to eat out as Faversham isn’t at all a very good place for that.

“We know a lot of the lower income families travel to Sittingbourne as it is cheaper to go out of town to eat.

“It’s not going to look like a cafe. It will look like a proper restaurant, like a Toby Carvery or Harvester.

“We’re not doing it on the cheap - it’ll be good quality food at affordable prices.

“We want to make our money through the volume of people we get in, not from expensive prices. So we want to always be busy.

“But it’s not just there to make money - it’s also there to provide community impact by training kitchen staff.”

The restaurant will offer varying training programmes, including apprenticeships, for vulnerable people or those at risk of offending.

The expansion, of which phase one is already complete thanks to the opening of a gym last year, is the key part of the West Faversham Community Association charity’s plan of becoming full self-sustainable.

Mr Browning says gaining financial support has become a tough task for the thriving centre. Therefore it must adapt to continue to offer vital support to the community.

“Grants are getting harder and harder to get, especially with Brexit as well,” he said.

“The risk of not getting enough money is getting higher and higher. So we came up with ways to generate that income ourselves so we don’t need to rely on grants.

“Income from the restaurant will be used to run a youth centre here in the evenings.

“It will get people off the streets and into a safe environment with indoor activities and outside space, such as a climbing wall.”

'It will look like a proper restaurant, like a Toby Carvery or Harvester...'

The expansion will see the centre increase its current weekly footfall for its community activities from 3,000 to 5,000 people per week.

The restaurant is set to open on the site of the current nursery which will move into a new purpose-built location.

Multi-functional rooms for the centre’s social groups - including adults with learning disabilities, the model railway club and bridge club - will also be created.

If planning permission is gained, building work is hoped to begin come the start of 2021, once all of the funds have been secured.

As it stands, the charity still requires an extra £500,000 to make the project become a reality. Firstly it needs planning permission from Swale Borough Council.

The proposals, which will soon be decided on by planning chiefs, have gained widespread support from Faversham residents.

Beverley Swan said: “I and countless others have benefited from its being there. The help and relief it has given to every group in the community has been unimaginable from when we first started.

“With the future plans it will go on to benefit many more people.”

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