‘Allstars Community Café’, providing employability and job finding skills for young people requiring additional support, is cooking up a storm after winning this year’s Alliance Scotland’s Self Management Award 2020 for employability.
Chosen by SUSE (Scottish Association for Supported Employment) it recognised the café’s role in supporting people to live their lives better and on their terms. The café was commended for its strong ethos of encouraging community participation and social isolation and running as a not-for-profit enterprise, putting the profits back into the school and local community, including providing surplus food at the end of its day to local homeless units.
The café, based at Firpark ASN Secondary School, began its catering venture a year ago with the assistance of the council’s supported enterprise service, Forgewood Community Centre and local employer Engie, who helped with the initial set up costs.
Prior to Covid, the café was staffed by 5th and 6th year pupils who served a tasty lunch every Thursday. The pupils were assisted by a job coach and a teacher from the school who provided training in all areas of hospitality. A job coach is also on hand help with other employability skills and job finding for the pupils. Talking about her work experience,
Emma, a 6th year pupil at Firpark, said: “The day I attend the café is the best day of the week and I love meeting new people and having fun. I have learned so much in my time there and my mum is so proud of me.”
Asked what the café’s receipe for success is, Cathy Brien, Manager of Forgewood Community Centre, said: “The Allstars Café plays an important role in Forgewood Housing Cooperatives work to address loneliness and social isolation within Forgewood and surrounding areas. Since opening in autumn 2019 the Café has been a wonderful addition to the Community Centre, providing tasty food at affordable prices.”
Visiting the café has also increased people’s awareness of disability as a whole and is a fantastic opportunity for the pupils to gain employability skills in a real employment situation. Donella Duff, Supported Enterprise Manager added: “Winning this award is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved, given the opportunity everyone has the ability to achieve their goals and aspirations.
“The pupils have blown us away in relation to the skills they have achieved, watching their confidence increase whilst communicating with other people. They have mastered many skills that are all transferrable into all aspects of their life.”
