Cafes / fishponds
Cafe ‘with a difference’ opens in Fishponds
A cafe and shop giving opportunities to young people with learning disabilities has opened its doors in Fishponds.
Around 15 trainees at Crafted by Props will produce and serve food and drinks and handmade crafted items, in the hopes of developing their skills in the workplace.
From barista training and cooking to customer service and admin, Crafted hopes to empower trainees who face barriers in the workplace with the confidence to secure their own job.
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Graphic tees, prints, totes, cards, seed bombs, plant cuttings, and even handmade cleansing pads are on offer in the shop, accompanied by photos or drawings of the people that made them.
All the items on display are handmade by trainee creatives, using donated supplies such as sewing machines
The new cafe will be managed and staffed by trainees with learning disabilities
Props, a 25-year-old charity based at the Vassall Centre, first unveiled the plans last year, and was able to raise £100,000 for the project, with the help of generous businesses donating supplies and support.
Among its five social enterprises, the charity owns Tapestry by Props brewery in St Philips, which is also run by trainees with learning disabilities, but it is hoped the new cafe will be able to operate as a bar as well in the evenings, serving beer from the brewery.
Operations manager Lara Jaffey said the new cafe was “an amazing opportunity” to showcase the work of trainees
As well as the cafe, there is a workshop room where sewing machines will be installed, and a quiet room, which members of the team will be able to use.
Lara Jaffey, head of operations at the cafe, said the new space was “an amazing opportunity” for trainee artists to showcase their work.
“The first week has been crazy,” she added. “We’ve been really busy every day. The response has been really warm and it’s been really popular.”
The cafe has also been working on collaborations with other local businesses, including an ‘Incredible Bean’ coffee collaboration with Radical Roasters based in Easton, and an exciting collaboration with Left Handed Giant brewery in the works.
Enterprise manager, Ruby Summerell, said: “As the face of our high streets is changing, the vision for Crafted by Props is to provide a model for how high street spaces can evolve to become accessible, inclusive social and creative hubs for everyone in the local community.”
Crafted will open as a daytime cafe on Wednesdays to Saturdays, from 10am to 4pm and will open in the evenings as a Tapestry by Props bar from 5pm to 10pm on Thursdays to Saturdays from this Thursday.
Crafted b Props has opened on the junction between Manor Road and Fishponds Road
All photos: Mia Vines Booth
Read next:
- Creating Bristol’s first disability-led brewery
- The bakery with a social purpose
- Plea for disabled adults play park in Bristol
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