$100,000 for Ngutu College's On-site Shop and Café

Ngutu College was honoured to be awarded one of the two $100,000 grants from the members of Impact100 SA.

Photo: Ngutu College accepting their awarded grant

Ngutu College is an independent, not-forprofit, socially-just college in Woodville North. Ngutu provides opportunities for children and young people to achieve success through positive academic, vocational and community outcomes with Aboriginal cultures at the soul.

The College is committed to nurturing the holistic development of its children and young people, and the submission to Impact100 aligns strongly with this mission by offering practical training experience to young people, particularly in the areas of food service, customer service, retail and administration.

The project is to renovate an existing school building into a social enterprise; an onsite café and shop selling ethically produced food and other products all produced by our disadvantaged young people and parents.

The local area houses over 40 industrial businesses many of whom have high employee numbers and a high daily traffic count of over 4,700 vehicles a day.

Part of the business plan is to attract the nearby Islamic and Vietnamese communities. On days that the local Mosque on Audley Street host ceremonies and services, the cafe would offer Halal food for the Islamic community. This will provide opportunities for youth to be immersed in other cultures they may not normally interact with.

The concept behind our project stemmed from direct requests for employment from members of the community, both young people and parents who have not had a supported pathway towards qualifications or employment, including Aboriginal and neurodivergent youth who are already finding it difficult to secure part-time employment in their local area.

This project will empower the Ngutu community living with long-term challenges to change their lifestyles through enhanced meaningful (real-life) experiences in a supportive and safe environment. It is innovative and will provide the opportunity to stop the intergenerational poverty cycle, develop financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills for future employment pathways for children and families who wouldn't normally have this opportunity. In some instances, the young person will be the first family member to have a job, SACE or qualification.

The Ngutu team are thrilled with the result from Impact100SA, securing the funding to make this onsite shop and cafe a reality for the Ngutu community living with disadvantage.

Photo: Ngutu College's new shop and cafe - Artist's Impression