Fridays!
As some of our customers are aware that during the school term time we are closed to the public on a Friday.
WHAT!! Is going on behind those closed blinds you may ask?
Well, Dawn and I are still very busy working away alongside our SEN students (special educational needs) we work with our local schools, Greenbank based in Northwich, and The Oakland School based in Winsford.
All these young people who attend each Friday are on the autistic spectrum, or have a learning disability and as we are a non for profit organisation it is our ethos to give something back to our community and to encourage all people to have confidence in themselves when learning new skills.
The Cafe is in its 2nd year of this programme and is proving to be very beneficial, not only for the students but for us as a cafe.
As with last year’s students we encourage new life skill and are amazed by their progress. They arrive with very mixed emotions from feeling, frightened, anxious, and nervous, excited, over whelmed, to some students this is too much and can reduce them to tears, from the unfamiliar surroundings that is pushing them out of their comfort zone.
But with the guidance of their tutors Dawn and I, we eventually get to know and see the different personalities, and what amazing students these young people are, to overcome their emotions of life, that perhaps you or I wouldn’t even think about. The first big step going to something new, the lights could be too bright, the noise deafening, different textures and the feel of everyday items causes pure panic, that they have to remove themselves from the situation.
And here we are 6 months into the year achieving wonderful cakes and bakes, soups and savouries that we serve to you our customers with fantastic feedback. So it is with a big Thank you to you all who support our little cafe, there really are big things going on inside.
Jo