A CAMPAIGN to raise £150,000 to open a youth café in a historic Hampshire building is nearing the halfway mark.

Winchester YMCA, which is leading the campaign, has raised £45,000 from donations and can now look forward to a £20,000 grant from council chiefs.

The YMCA wants to open the youth café in the 13th century undercroft of St John’s House in The Broadway.

Much of the building dates to medieval times, while its Georgian ballroom welcomed the likes of Niccolò Paganini and Franz Liszt. The YMCA now runs it on behalf of the St John’s Winchester Charity.

The Mayor of Winchester, Councillor Dominic Hiscock, pictured with youngsters above, visited the building to mark the announcement of the city council grant.

The YMCA is putting £300,000 of its own cash towards the youth café scheme.

The money came from selling its previous base at Weeke during the 1990s.