A NEW cafe bar is set to open in Oxford city centre this summer as part of the new headquarters of a student volunteer group.

Oxford Hub is in the final stages of signing a lease for a Turl Street building previously used as a private members’ club. It is expected to open in August.

The Cowley Road-based group places hundreds of student volunteers in schools, nursing homes and environmental projects each year.

A £750,000 redevelopment will transform the ground floor into a restaurant and bar, called the Turl Street Kitchen, to open from 8am to midnight and offering locally grown food.

Upstairs will house offices and a training suite and a base for student charities, including Jacari, which provides home teaching to asylum-seeking children, and Keen, which provides activities for youngsters with special needs.

Hub centre director Hannah Martin said: “As a charity, we always thought it would be wonderful to have a base closer to the university and in the centre of the city.

“We are really excited to move somewhere that can serve all our needs, which is closer to the student community and enables wider engagement with the city.

“It is partly to do with raising awareness of what we do, and partly to bring more opportunities to volunteer to students.”

She added: “The really exciting thing about it is we will actually have a base for the first time for a lot of our activities.

“We run a lot of training schemes for students.”

The building used to house The Corner Club and QI.

Miss Martin added: “It is good to turn a place that was previously exclusive into something really inclusive.”

A workshop where city residents can create furniture for the new development will be held in June.

Each year, 500 Oxford University students volunteer through Oxford Hub, each giving an average of 82 hours to good causes over 12 months.

They have worked with disadvantaged children seen by Oxfordshire County Council’s social services department and with Low Carbon West Oxford to create new allotments.

One-to-one tuition is also provided at schools including Oxford Spires Academy, Cheney and Fitzharrys secondary schools.

The Hub is due to sign a lease with Oxford City Council for the building shortly.