Barista and Beyond – the Journey so far

Hana El-Giathi and Ema Trkulja • Jun 08, 2023

Our Journey in Changing Lives One Job at a Time continues in our café, Barista & Beyond

Our Social Enterprise café, Barista & Beyond, opened up in November 2022. Set up to give people with disabilities a range of learning opportunities and experiences in the local hospitality sector, the Barista & Beyond team now welcomes customers daily from the Reading community, serving a variety of excellent drinks, sweet treats and savoury plates.

As a social and ethical enterprise, all café profits are used to support many more individuals with disabilities to gain meaningful employment. The mission is for Barista & Beyond Café to be a role model that can inspire other employers in the hospitality industry to provide supported employment opportunities too, with the aim to create a more diverse workforce that better represents communities in which we live.

Most importantly, Barista and Beyond seeks to break down the misconception that people with a disability are unable to work to the required standard – with a little support they can, and they prove to be totally loyal and committed employees. Barista & Beyond has helped many Ways into Work clients in gaining experience and confidence in the workplace. Our 18 year old intern Charlie joined us a few months ago and has already gained the skills he needs to secure a job in hospitality. Take a look at Charlie’s Story below.

“I am really proud of the team at Barista & Beyond and Ways into Work for creating a quality, independent café destination that the locality needs. This flagship initiative shows us how businesses can play their part in helping to change our society, changing lives for the better, one job at a time and through this café, one coffee at a time.”

- Jonathan Holley, Managing Director, Ways into Work

Click here to find out more about our Barista & Beyond café and be sure to visit us: 5 Alfred Street, Reading, RG1 7ATNew Paragraph

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Client's journey to achieving her dream job

By Laura Shuttleworth • 02 Mar, 2023

An incredible good news story from one of our clients, who explains how the support from us has changed her life and helped her get her dream job!

A Client’s Employment Journey up to being awarded Employee of the year!

By Laura Shuttleworth • 16 Jan, 2023

When Rajpal first became a client at Ways into Work he had been struggling with looking for work and a good job match. Rajpal has a mild learning disability and mental health issues and had not worked for over ten years except to help now and then at his family’s supermarket. He had not worked for such a long time as he was not well enough to think about his career and life choices. When he joined Ways into Work as a Job Seeker and was assigned an Employment Coach who spent a long time getting to know him, doing a vocational profile and job matching. It was decided that the best first step was for Rajpal was to experience what different jobs and roles are like and what they would entail. Ways into Work then supported him in applying for various roles in retail and did mock interviews where he gained lots of practice. He secured a few interviews but was not offered any of the jobs. Rajpal had begun taking an interest in going to the gym and informed his Employment Coach that he would like a job at the gym. After approaching the employer, his Employment Coach secured an interview for him. He was so happy that at the interview when asked why he would like to work at the gym, he pulled out of his pocket a handwritten lengthy list of reasons why he liked the job and the skills he had to offer. This showed the employer his passion for the job and Rajpal was offered the job, working 3 days (24 hours) a week to begin with. As the leisure centre was 7 miles away, his Employment Coach supported him with applying for Access To Work transport to and from work. They also taught him and his parents how to claim his monthly ATW transport and supported him with the change of circumstances in his benefits. When Rajpal first started to work at the Leisure Centre he solely worked in the gym and his role included ensuring that all the equipment was working and clean, as well as dealing with lots of customer enquiries. This was quite a challenge for Rajpal to begin with, as it was a large premise and no two days were the same. With Job Coaching , Ways into Work was able to support Rajpal by helping to create a routine for him and also discussing with his supervisor a way of building new tasks into his days as the weeks progressed.