Workskills
Our Workskills programme offers adults with disabilities the chance to learn in real, working environments. Our members can choose to work in our catering or gardening teams, alongside chefs and gardeners doing work for real customers.
Our Community Team work locally running lunch clubs for (and befriending) elderly and other disabled people.
Our production team make woodwork and crafts items that we sell in our Community Shop.
Our Community Café is a lively place where members prepare and serve meals and snacks.
Workskills runs from 9-4, Monday-Friday and members can choose whether they want to work one day a week, five days a week or anything in between.
Our members can enjoy a varied mixture from across the programme. For example, they could choose to spend 2 days gardening and 3 days in the Community Café, or mix it up however they wish.
Our Workskills services aim to:
- Build and maintain friendships
- Support integration into community environments
- Create an inclusive environment for all abilities
- Maintain confidence and skills to use in everyday life
- Encourage a healthy, active and fun lifestyle
- Increase personal development
- Allow members the opportunity to work towards AQA UAS certificates
You can access our Workskills services through:
- Social Services
- A friend
- Family
- Yourself
How you can pay:
The programme can be paid for through personal budgets, direct payments or funded yourself.
Catering
Our catering service gives you the opportunity to work in a 5* food hygiene environment. While you’re working, you’ll be preparing and serving meals for lunch clubs, preparing bespoke food orders for events (like conferences, weddings and birthday parties) ready and making jams and preserves to sell in the Community Shop and Café.
Gardening
Our gardening service involves working alongside a team of professionals to maintain gardens for local residents as well as other local companies and organisations, whilst learning all about plants and horticulture.
Production
Our production team are based in the workshop and handcraft a whole range of items – bespoke wooden garden items, candles and seasonal arts and craft produce. We sell all these items in our Community Shop and Café.
Outreach
Our Outreach community work includes serving food at lunch clubs for the elderly, hosting daytime activities for others who need disability support, attending events and becoming a part of a befriending service with local residential homes for the elderly.
Our Café
Our Community Café opened in 2014. It gives members a place to prepare and serve meals and snacks to member of the public, be taught to use a till and handle cash or even work towards a Food Hygiene certificate.
Our Shop
The About With Friends Community Shop gives our Workskills members the opportunity to serve customers in a real shop environment, learn about stock rotation, window dressing and display skills and handling cash and a till.
