Our Vision
A training and work experience placement (inspired by so-called Autism Cafes), to help young people with SLD (Severe/Specific Learning Disability) to develop skills in a slower, more supportive environment whilst serving real customers. It will be a self-contained mobile coffee van to be parked outside or close to the school for young people with SLD to learn how to take orders for and make coffee and other hot drinks plus snacks. There will be a menu with words and pictures for people to order from verbally and by pointing. There will be some fold up tables and chairs. One young person will take order and possibly the money. The other young person will make the drinks. The young people will do a ‘shift’ on the van.
The young people will be set personal targets in collaboration with their teacher and parents, and given individual support to progress their skills in each area.
Why a coffee van?
Coffee is a growing trend and not seasonal. It allows us to start small scale, has low start-up costs, less overheads, good profit margins (up to 95% - NCASS), allows for flexibility and will be run as a real business. It can be parked outside the students’ current place of education. This saves travel time but also means that the students are already somewhere familiar, which will reduce anxiety (common in people with disabilities).
