The Snap Tin Cafe Skills and Training Project
The Snap Tin Cafe is one of Big Locals flagship projects and and has fast become a central community hub where people are gathering to not only enjoy good food and company but also enjoy a whole range of activites and workshops. Due to the many sucesses of the cafe they are now looking to expand and form partnerships with other groups and agenices which will help to deliver activites and courses that will build local peoples skills, confidence and employability. There is such a lot of good work goes on at the cafe that the Big Local Partnership feel that the plans for expansion will fit in nicely with one of Big Locals priorities which is providing local jobs, skills and training. With this is mind it has been agreed that part of the Big Local funding for this priority will be allocated to The Snap Tin Cafe over the next 9 months with the aim of increasing what the cafe can currently offer.
The future plans for expansion
Anita Heatherglen, who is one of the Directors of the cafe states that over the past two years the café has turned into a real community hub. She feels that now is the time to continue to develop and be able to make the services available to everyone in the community; to help reduce the effects of unemployment, poverty and in particular the social isolation felt by many of the older people within the community.
It has also been identified that many of the current groups, support and activities are not available at the weekend or during school holidays and there are plans to work with other local groups to identify individuals, young people and families who would benefit from this and offer a wide range of education, self-help and social activities during these times.
One of the biggest areas of expansion would be to offer more volunteer and traineeships places for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities to help them improve employability and more importantly life skills which will help them to live more independent lives.
The Snap Tin Cafe would like to offer part time employment to a young person on an internship from Barnsley College who has worked at The Snap Tin since September 2018. He is on the Autistic Spectrum and he finishes college at the beginning of June 2019 and will need some meaningful employment that can offer the support that we have. He really loves working with us and is very popular with people and has a very good work ethic.
We have also been approached by Adult Education who would like us to facilitate delivery of courses in First Aid, Health and Safety and Food Hygiene Training. They will be delivered free to people on benefits but we would like to subsidise the cost for people on low income who we feel would greatly benefit from these courses. Part of the funding will also be used to cover existing staff salary costs which will ensure that we have the staff numbers to deal with the increased workload.
The Snap Tin Cafe feel that we have a very good working relationship with Big Local and we appreciate that they have been instrumental in our successes. We would like to be given the opportunity to work in partnership with Big Local to help in deliver the skills, training and job opportunities in the Big Local Community.
For more informtion about what is going on at the Snap Tin Cafe contact them on 01709 891455 or Facebook The Snap Tin@thefatorygoldthorpe
