“Working in the pop-up café gives me something to look forward to each week. I love using the till and making drinks using the barista machine. I am called the Cappuccino Queen because I get the best creamy froth on every one”. Julia
In 2019, Options in Life first opened our Pop-up café in the village of Ceres. The pop-up café was open to the public once a week (every Wednesday) and offered a selection of hot and cold foods, cakes and barista coffee and hot drinks. As our confidence grew and more Options in Life service users wanted to be part of the project, we decided to open for a second day.
In 2022, we purchased our very own building. It was decided by our Service User Committee to open our very own cafe, within the building. With this focus, we reduced our days in the Ceres cafe back to one day per week.
The café now runs between 10am and 3pm every Tuesday. Our menu selection has grown to offer more variety and we now have a large volunteer team of dedicated volunteers, all of whom are service users in our other programmes and projects.
We pride ourselves in the pop-up café being a friendly, professional and welcoming team serving fresh quality food and drinks each week. We have built up a fantastic reputation and have many regular customers who come for our wonderful food but keep coming back because of the kind service that we provide.
The pop-up café is run by a group of Options in Life service users on a rota system. Each volunteer is given training in food hygiene and kitchen health and safety and learns how to use a barista machine, operate a till and take payments, and build customer service experience.
We have created a safe haven for people with learning disabilities to visit our pop-up café and feel welcomed and included. Many of our service users visit with friends and family regularly and we host events like bingo to bring both the local community and our service users together. The cafe has also become a place for carers to come for respite and be around people that have similar life experiences.
We have also reached out to local schools that have pupils with additional support needs who visit us regularly to experience our café and see what they too can potentially achieve after they finish full time education.
If you would like to find out about volunteering opportunities in the Options in Life pop-up café, please contact Rob Burns at rob@optionsinlife.org
To visit our pop-up café, pop along between 10am and 3pm every Tuesday. You can also book a table on the day by calling 01334 828560.
You can find us at; The Village Café,
38 Main Street,
Ceres, Fife
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