Celebrating the New Beginnings Café

Celebrating the

About this ebook Contents

The beginning

Naming the café, logo design and promotion

Set up and opening

The New Beginnings Café and social enterprise launched in 2018 and was a place in Irvine, Ayrshire where people with a learning disability were able to come to learn hospitality, business, team-building and customer service skills in a warm, relaxed and friendly environment. This ebook captures the experiences and reflections of those involved in setting up and running the café.

The beginning

The New Beginnings Café was run by a group of incredible people supported by Cornerstone’s Shared Lives service.

Shared Lives is all about individual households sharing their lives, families, home, interests, experience, and skills with other people who need some help and support. Shared Lives carers provide support in their own homes to adults with a learning disability or additional support needs. This support can be provided on a full time, short break or day support basis depending on our Shared Lives carers’ availability and preferences, as well as the identified needs of the individual being supported.

Every week in a hall in Irvine – Heather, Kerryann, Joanna, Iram, Alan, Kirsty, Michael and Kaz would meet to discuss their lives, plan fundraising actives, and organise outings. They named themselves the New Beginnings Group.

During one of these meetings in 2018, the group were discussing ways to create a space where people could go to feel less isolated. They wanted a community hub which was a welcoming safe space, and the idea of the café was born. The creation of the café was also instrumental in enabling people with learning disabilities to gain employment experience where they may face barriers to access.

We are New Beginnings Café in Irvine. We saw that our community was needinghavesomethingtobringpeopletogetherandpromoteinclusion,aplacewherepeoplecan coffee,cakesandsomechatinafriendlyandwelcomingenvironment. We prepare delicious hot and cold food; sandwiches, soup, rolls, salads and bakedexcitingpotatoes.Wealsohavespecialslikechilli,pastaandmacaroniwithloadsofnewand recipesstilltocome.Treatyourselfwithourextremelytastycakes,forgetbeing alwaysgood,you’llbedisappointedifyoudon’ttryone!Ifyou’retoofullafteryourmealyoucan buyonetotakehome. employOurcaféisrunbytheCornerstoneNewBeginningsGroupalongsidevolunteers.We peoplewithadditionalsupportneedsasweareaninclusivecafé,soplease ordersupportustoenablethepeoplewesupporttoliveavaluedlife.Pleasebepatient,your mighttakealittlelongerbutitiswellworththewait! Wecan’twaittowelcomeyouandtomakeyourvisitanamazingexperience.

Naming the café, logo design and promotion

Kerryann came up with the name for the New Beginnings Group in 2014 as she believed the meet ups with her Shared Lives community felt like a new beginning for her and for others. From here the group decided the most fitting name for the café would be The New Beginnings Café and it was an exciting new challenge and adventure for them all.

“A

lot of us have had experience in hospitality before so we knew exactly what we wanted and the vision of what we wanted.”

“We wanted to try something new and to run a café to prove that we can do anything we put our minds too.”

The café logo designed by New Beginnings Group member Heather, was used across the café’s social media platforms as well as printed on staff uniforms, café mugs and on tote bags which were sold within the café to the public.

Leaflets were created to promote the café and shared with businesses around the local area. The group took these out to other community spots to spread the word of the café as well as promote it online and reach a wider audience.

Set up and opening

Before the final venue was secured the group viewed another potential venue in Dreghorn but felt it did not fit what they were looking for. Following this, the group established a partnership with the Salvation Army to share a workable community space in Townhead, Irvine. This was the point when the New Beginnings Café started to come together. This space was perfect as it included a working kitchen and cupboard access with the ability to be divided and shared.

Upon securing this venue the group started on the project in June 2018 and after 6 months of hard work and a soft launch in October the café was officially launched to the public on the 7th of December 2018.

The group were responsible for a large amount of the decision making and daily running of the café, but they did have help with this. Mentor Diane Conway was brought in to help oversee and manage the café with the support from Michael Deadman. Family placement worker Gail McNaught helped assist the group and proved particularly valuable as a point of contact to confide in. Alan McLelland, whilst being supported by Cornerstone, interviewed and successfully landed himself the paid role of Chef. Pauline volunteered at the café by offering her baking skills to the group. Group member Heather took an interest learning how to bake and decorate cakes, and when Pauline eventually stepped down from this role, Heather took on the responsibility of baking the cafés’ cakes and carried on expanding her skills in this area.

Gail McNaught sourced the remaining items needed to complete the café in a sustainable and cost-effective manner. Through an online search, she managed to get hold of the equipment and kitchen appliances needed to have the café ready for trade by purchasing several vital items from a recently closed café.

When the furniture arrived, the group upcycled the items by cleaning and painting the tables and chairs, giving them a new lease of life, and opting for a purple, black and silver colour theme.

The group decided they wanted to also use the café to highlight local artists’ work. They secured the artwork through a combination of approaching artists themselves and emailing to ask if they would like to use the space to show and sell their work, as well as artists coming to the café for lunch and asking if they could display their work for sale. This really added to the feel of the café and showed the strong community aspect of the space.

Official Facebook announcement

“Well the big day is nearly here we officially open the New Beginnings Café to the public tomorrow on the 7th of December at 10:30am-3:30pm

We wanted to thank all businesses and shops that have donated or have helped and contributed in anyway to opening the café. We really do appreciate your support

Please share and spread the word with your friends and family about this new and exciting café run by the amazing people we support and volunteers!

Please like Cornerstone-Ayrshire Facebook Page!”

After months of challenging work and organising, the opening day was a roaring success. The late North Ayrshire Provost Ian Clarkson visited with former Cornerstone CEO Edel Harris on the day to officially open the café. The group organised a raffle, put on an incredible spread and even managed to secure a Ukulele band to come and play.

From this point the café was open three days a week from Wednesday to Friday 10am–2pm. If the café was busy the group would stay open later to ensure people were able to enjoy their visit without feeling rushed to leave.

Responsibilities

Running a café carries tremendous responsibility, from cooking and cleaning to writing schedules and maintaining inventory, there are many tasks to keep on top of to ensure the best service.

One of the biggest responsibilities in a food service is to ensure it adheres to food hygiene standards. The group had to know the correct temperatures for the cooking and storing of food, how to correctly keep and date food products and ensure everyone was trained in proper hand washing techniques and all necessary hygiene protocols were in place.

Some of the New Beginnings Group had to sit an exam in hospitality health and safety before they could work in the café. Those who had already done a course in hospitality helped support those new to hospitality to study, testing each other with flashcards to ensure everyone was as prepared as possible.

To begin with everyone started by learning how to correctly clean the dishes in the café. They were trained to follow a routine of disinfecting dishes with boiling water and once they were clean, given the opportunity to shadow others within the café to learn the other duties available.

The group learnt the responsibilities that come with working and running a business such as having to stay to clean and pack up at the end of the day. As the building was a shared space, at times it required extra cleaning when the facilities had been used before the group started a shift. They took pride in the café so would put the time and effort in to present it to the high standards they wanted to continue to maintain.

One of the most sought-after roles was making and decorating the cakes (as well as taste-testing them). Lots of the group commented that they enjoyed the social side that came with the customer facing roles and looked forward to chatting with the customers who would frequent the café.

“Everyone commented how clean the place was – you want it to feel like home but to a café clean standard.”

“I liked everything! I loved talking to the customers that came to the café and serving them. I loved taking orders and putting them into the kitchen. The café made me feel useful.”

Others commented that they enjoyed learning the more technical side to running the café such as using the till to take payments and mastering the coffee machine.

At times some of the group felt they were assigned duties they did not enjoy such as cleaning and wanted the opportunity to do more. To tackle this, a constructive approach was taken to show that putting in the effort to work hard would lead to further responsibilities. It was important to ensure that everyone had a voice, and this was a learning curve for everyone involved to give the group the space to voice their opinions and concerns and know that their feelings were valid. To create this safe space between friends and co-workers it was decided that a meeting would be held on a Friday to give everyone the opportunity to talk about how they felt.

“I loved doing the cakes, I was very creative in doing that and organising everything.”

“I loved getting to see friends and work with them, and I loved people seeing us as “normal” instead of seeing our disability.”

“I loved seeing happy customers and greeting them when they came into the café, asking them how their day was and what they have been up to. And I loved when customers came in with their kids.”

The menu

Breakfast

Roll with bacon, steak slice sausage, or veggie slice

Toast with 2 poached eggs

2 slices of toast with butter & jam

Soup of the Day with Crusty Bread

Please see specials board.

Full portion

Half portion

Take away soup

£1.75

£2.50

£1.25

Welcome to the New Beginnings Café which was set up and run by the New Beginnings Group, part of Cornerstone which provides support for people with disabilities and other support needs.

Please be patient as our team are continuously learning. The wait may be a little longer but we promise it will be worth it!

Don’t forget to check our specials board on Thursdays and Fridays!

Salad

£2.50

£1.50

£1.70 (with bread £2.00)

Soup and specials are served after 12pm

Soup with a Sandwich or Toastie Deal

Choose a full portion or half portion of soup with a full sandwich/toastie on white or brown bread.

Half portion of soup with full sandwich or toastie

Full portion of soup with full sandwich or toastie

Sandwiches and Toasties

White or brown seeded bread, served with salad, crisps, and our homemade coleslaw.

Ham Cheese

Egg mayo

Tuna mayo

Ham and cheese

£4.00

£5.00

Plain salad

Ham salad

Egg mayo salad

Tuna mayo salad

Chicken mayo salad

Sweet Treats & Bakes

£2.50

The basis for the menu was to have a daily soup, selection of sandwiches, cakes, and fruit available. To develop the menu the group produced the specials and the choices they made developed over time to meet the needs of the customers.

Members of the group visited different supermarkets to find the best produce and priced ingredients. They researched other cafés in the area both on a higher and lower-level budget range to judge where best to place their own items. The initial prices they set proved to be too low and had to be adjusted to ensure they were profitable and not losing money when trading.

£2.80 (with chutney or salad £3.00)

£2.80 (with chutney or salad £3.00)

£2.80

£2.80 (with cheese £3.00)

£3.10 (with salad £3.30)

£3.25

Why not treat yourself to our delicious home baking, freshly made by our team. Please ask a member of team for prices.

You can also take some of our sweet treats home with you with a New Beginnings Café tote bag for just £1

Drinks

Mug of tea

Mug of coffee

Pot of tea for one

Pot of tea for two

Green tea

Americano

Bacon, lettuce, and tomato (BLT) with mayo

Chicken mayo

Brie, bacon, and cranberry

Baked Potatoes

Served with salad and coleslaw.

Baked potato with beans

Baked potato with cheese

Baked potato with homemade coleslaw

Baked potato with cheese and beans

Baked potato with tuna mayo

Baked potato with egg mayo

Baked potato with chicken mayo

£3.25 (with salad £3.45)

£3.50

£3.00

£3.00

£3.00

£3.50

£3.50

£3.50

Flat white Cappuccino

Latte

Hot chocolate

Cans

Diluting juice

Thanks you for visiting our café, we hope you enjoy your visit! Please add us on Facebook @IrvineNewBeginningsCafé

For more information about Cornerstone please visit www.cornerstone.org.uk

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The group adapted the menu to ensure it was as inclusive as possible. An example of this can be seen in the gluten free cake options. At times GF cakes did not sell well, whilst on another occasions where GF cakes had not been made there was a demand for them. To tackle this the group decided to make sure a gluten free option was always available but that they could be made easily on demand such as pancakes and scones. A list of ingredients used was also made available to allow people to check for their own dietary and allergy requirements.

The café offered a (very) local delivery service to businesses on the same street. It regularly provided food to a neighbouring hairdresser and the local pool hall, at times putting on a larger spread when requested for events.

Reviews

The café received excellent 5* reviews and outstanding feedback across several different review platforms. It is clear to see that the café provided high quality food as well as a warm, welcoming, and friendly space for visitors.

More special moments

The group decided to host a Christmas lunch for the Salvation Army as a thank you for letting them share the space with them. This was a busy day for the team, and they pulled out all the stops and trimmings to make the day special for everyone who attended.

The group enjoyed celebrating occasions and making it fun for their customers such as Easter, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas with themed menus, going above and beyond with decorations and fancy dress!

The café held a Halloween event day. Everyone dressed up, they created creepy cakes to sell and hosted a Halloween themed quiz for £1 to play. They also had arts and crafts stations set up so people would be able to get involved for free if they did not have the ability to purchase items but but still wanted be part of the festivities.

Two weeks of online celebration to shine a light on our 2020 Scottish Learning Disability Award finalists

The group won the Highly Commended Social Impact award presented by the Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities in 2020.

Social Impact

The New Beginnings Cafe - Highly Commended

The New Beginnings Café and social enterprise is just that – a place where people with a learning disability can come to learn hospitality skills in a warm and friendly environment Heather, Alan, Caroline, Kirsty, Iram, Michael, Cameron, Joanna, Kerryann and Lynn together make up a dedicated team of volunteers that support the Café They work together to gain skills and knowledge through supported training and hands-on experiences, everyone has the chance to work across all aspects of the business, from working in the kitchen to the front of house This committed and enthusiastic team of people with learning disabilities and Café staff are at the heart of their community in Irvine

The Scottish Learning Disability Awards provide an opportunity to celebrate, on a national level, the rarely heard stories and achievements of people with learning disabilities and the people who support them. Employee

Alexander Warren - Winner

The New Beginnings Café generated significant, positive press coverage as well as social media publicity. You can read more via the links below.

Irvine Times – New Beginnings Café holds official opening event – read more by clicking here

The New Beginnings Café Wins Highly Commended in the Social Impact category at the Scottish Learning Disability Awards 2020 – watch by clicking here

Ruth Macaulay - Highly Commended

Ruth Macaulay is a vivacious personality who has seen her talent blossom in her role as Printing and Digital Assistant at The Liberte Project Ruth has a learning and physical disability alongside a long-term health condition, mental health issues and impaired vision However, she has not let any of this stop her - since joining the team she has learnt to use the printing equipment expertly and never hesitates to help others, producing ‘how-to’ guides on using equipment Ruth’s colleagues find her commitment and enthusiasm infectious

Alexander’s business ‘AJP Dreams’ (www.ajpdreams.co.uk) was created to work with people with a learning disability, professionals and families to show how supporting people to dream can lead to real life achievements they may never previously have thought possible Alexander has overcome his own health challenges to become the success he is today; however more importantly, in keeping with the name of his business, he hasn’t let others stand in the way of his dreams

The Voice star Craig Forsyth popped in for tea and to confirm that he was going to be singing at the 2019 Cornerstone Ayrshire summer ball in the Riverside Lodge!

Voice star Craig Forsyth visits New Beginnings Café – read more by clicking here

One Year Anniversary Video – watch by clicking here

To find out more about Cornerstone’s Shared Lives service and to see the New Beginnings Café in action click here

Irvine Times - Community café closes doors as charity shuts its Irvine hub – read more by clicking here

Personal impact Community impact

Prior to the New Beginnings Group, the café within the Salvation Army building had been used as a soup kitchen. One or two people came along for a free soup and the next time five more people would come along when news of the café started to spread.

Many elderly people would frequent the café, some of whom had not socialised prior to their visit that week. There were a group of five “coffee lady” regulars who would come to the café every Wednesday like clockwork. Over time the group knew their coffee orders like the back of their hand and the only change would be which cakes they wanted.

The café had a board where they updated the daily specials and included a new quote to highlight mental health awareness such as - ‘You never know what someone may go through. Take five minutes to speak to someone.’

There was a stranger table available to encourage people to meet others who may feel isolated and want to make new friends.

Being part of the café brought a new sense of purpose to many in the group and gave them a reason to get out of bed in the morning. They were supported in learning how to maintain a job, take on responsibilities and shown how to create and stick to a routine.

The cooking skills learnt within the café lead to many of the group taking more control and developing their confidence in the kitchen in their own homes.

Although the New Beginnings Group already existed, this venture helped them grow together as a team as well as introducing them to more people in the community and make new friends along the way.

The group learnt a lot from spending time with others and asking about other’s needs. It taught them the importance of personal space and that different people require different forms of alone time.

The group achieved something amazing and helped build a newfound confidence in themselves by breaking barriers and proving something to not only those within the group but to others about what they can achieve. They learnt the reward that comes from dedication and hard work whilst gaining inner strength to take on new challenges.

“It’s

inspired me to be confident in who I am.”

“Not many people at 25 can say that they’ve done college and went and ran a café – if I could tell my 7-year-old self I’ve done this it’s amazing – no matter being in care or being in disabilities.”

“I used to be quite ashamed but now this is who I am.”

Closing and the future

Unfortunately, the New Beginnings Café had to close in March 2022 due to the closure of the building where they rented space. The statement below was issued:

We are sorry we have to share news of the closure of our New Beginnings Café in Irvine, Ayrshire. The café was initially established in 2018 by a “New Beginnings” group of individuals supported through our Shared Lives service. The group had a vision to bring people together and reduce social isolation. Through hard work, dedication and planning came the creation of the New Beginnings Café which provided people with learning disabilities an employability experience of working across a variety of roles within a busy café environment. Unfortunately, the café is now officially closing due to the closure of the building where the café space was rented.

However, The New Beginnings Group will continue to meet on a weekly basis, supported by the Cornerstone Ayrshire team when they will scope out their individual aspirations and consider their next steps. In the meantime, we would like to recognise the considerableachievements of the volunteer team that helped to run the café with support from Diane, Gail, Michael, and Alan, and to commend them all on their success. The café won the ‘Social Impact’ award presented by the Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities in 2020 prior to it shutting due to the pandemic and was recognised as a huge success leading

to new friendships, improved confidence, and a sense of purpose and opportunity for adults with learning disabilities in the community.

Diane Conway, Team Member and Café Supervisor commented: “It has been a privilege to work with the café team to support them achieve their dream of opening a café. Although it is heartbreaking that we have had to close I have every belief that the team will all go on to do amazing things.”

Heather, a café volunteer and member of the New Beginnings Group added “From day one, building up tables to then having our first year celebrations, the hard work we put in wasundeniable. We are all deeply upset by the closure of the café but hope that every cloud has a silver lining and as we’ve always said “team work makes the dream work!”

Congratulations to everyone involved in the setting up and running of the café, including; Marissa Speed, Gail McNaught, Diane Conway, Alan McLelland, Heather Thomson, Kirsty Webb, Kerryann Meehan, Joanna Masters, Iram Laird, Caroline Murray, Michael Deadman and Lynn Travers.

Closing and the future

The time that the team worked in the café was special not only for those within the Shared Lives group but for their support workers and the wider community who frequented the café.

The existence of this project helped those involved gain valuable new experiences and skills such as time keeping, cooking, serving customers and cash handling as well as giving them the opportunity to gain new qualifications and meet people within the community.

Prior to closure, the café was awarded £8000 by the North Ayrshire Council. Rather than ask for the money back due to the project unexpectedly ending, the Council made the decision for the group to keep the money for future endeavors. Since, the group have used the money to fund mental health training, take part in a woodlands wake up winter nature skills course, take on first aid training and the production of this ebook to help capture and document their experience. In 2022, when a member of the group became pregnant; they learned more about parenting with assistance from the Ayrshire and Arran Midwifery team, even purchasing a ‘ready or not programmable tot’!

Since the closure of the café lots of exciting things have been happening for the group.

The New Beginnings Group itself is now largely female only with a few members moving on. Some members currently live together in shared placements and the group continue to meet every second Monday.

Alan is working in another café now, Caz took on the role of Coastwatch down at the beach and now works 5 days a week in a roll shop in Irvine after starting out only doing 2 shifts a week, Joanna and Kerryann both went on to work in local charity shops, Iram went on to attend college and Michael embraced his love for the outdoors and began gardening. Heather became an ambassador for Shared Lives Plus helping to recruit new support carers and spread awareness of Cornerstone’s Shared Lives community and opportunities. She is currently developing a new buddy system to help integrate people into the Shared Lives community from foster care.

enquiries@cornerstone.org.uk

www.cornerstone.org.uk