Sweatbox Youth Venue

The Sweatbox is an open access youth centre, welcoming young people mostly from Wantage, Grove and the surrounding villages but also from across Oxfordshire and a variety of schools, academies and colleges.

We are based on King Alfred’s Academy Centre site and offer a range of sports, arts and fun activities like our popular inflatable gladiator jousting, beanbag cinema, Nintendo Switch gaming, sumo wrestling, karaoke, go karts, and our Skatebox portable skate ramps amongst other things. There is a free pool table, table football and a coffee bar that sells snacks and drinks.

The Sweatbox is managed in partnership with King Alfreds Academy by a dedicated team of youth workers and voluntary youth support workers. In addition to our adult team, we also have an essential committee of young people called The Sweatbox Union who play a major part in all things Sweatbox.

The award-winning Sweatbox Union (SU for short) are 16 representative teenagers recruited each year as a forum to work alongside youth workers in delivering activities, events and services to young people.
The key philosophy of the Sweatbox is that young people are given maximum opportunity to influence and help shape a service that meets their needs.
The SU hold formal meetings monthly and are supported by Sweaty Squidgers, the name

given to other young people volunteering to help run the Sweatbox.

The Sweatbox liaises with local Town and Parish councils, the Neighbourhood Action Group and other community groups promoting citizenship among young people.