Meet the truly inspirational Anna Kennedy. Anna runs a community cafe at St Herbert’s Court in Chadderton, Oldham, helping people sidelined by society learn new skills and get into the hospitality industry.
Anna welcomes volunteers from all sorts of backgrounds to experience working in a kitchen, stock management and customer service. Many of her team have learning disabilities, are recovering from illness or those for whom English is not their first language.
The project also pays for volunteers’ food hygiene certificates and safeguarding training, so they are ready to take their next steps in hospitality.
After being made redundant from the NHS, Anna, who has trained as a fully-qualified chef, started the project in 2022. Originally from South Africa, she has experienced troubles of her own, including alcohol addiction.
Now, she helps others learn about running a kitchen and cooking healthy meals. Not only does the project give individuals the expertise, Anna’s cafe offers them a space to grow in confidence and social skills.
“I created the environment for people that society are more likely to reject,” she said. “We train them, so when they are finished here, they can take their CV anywhere and say this is what I have done, these are my strengths and weaknesses, give me a try.”
We met Sophie, Mita, Fran, Ben and Tyler, who all had a different story as to why they loved the cafe. 21 year-old Tyler, who is autistic, has been at the cafe for a couple of months. He told us he currently attends college and works at the cafe twice a week, and wants to open his own restaurant one day, building on his experience at Anna’s.
On Wednesday’s lunch menu was chicken and mushroom pie, as well as various soups, barbecue ribs, curry, jacket potatoes and more. Anna’s focus is on simple, comforting recipes, and we were particularly fond of the salad, which included cranberries, walnuts and sunflower seeds.
Anna said: “We’ve got the run of the mill greasy spoon breakfasts but all our menus we try to use the least amount of salt, oils and fats.”
The volunteers even made sure no one had to be alone during the festive season, providing Christmas dinner to the residents.
Anna said: “On Christmas Day, whilst I was in Thailand, Fran kept the place running. She did a Christmas dinner for those that are widowed or widowers, they all came and had a meal here.
“On the last Sunday of every month, we do a Sunday roast dinner. The people that live here in the sheltered accommodation, some of them are alone with nowhere to go, so this is the place.”
The cafe is a partnership between retirement living provider Housing 21 and local social enterprise Wellbeing Improvement Fitness Initiative & Catering Service North West. Not only does the cafe help those volunteering, but it gives residents a place to socialise, meet new people and enjoy delicious food.
Anna added: “Housing 21 really takes care of this place. Everybody knows the staff, the customers have got patience with them. So the staff don’t feel overwhelmed.
“We had other cafes, very similar to this, but we were responsible for energy bills, which were sky high. We would make sixty or seventy pounds a day, and the energy bills alone per month was £1500. We weren’t given any help with that.”
We spoke to regular visitor Andrea, about why she keeps coming back. She said: “I come every week with friends, and friends that live here who join us. Our favourite is the jacket potatoes and sometimes she comes around with fresh fruit. The only thing is she’s not open long enough for us, we need her to be open for longer!”
Anna is a ray of sunshine and getting to meet her was truly inspirational. She used her own experiences of moving countries to motivate her in her teaching and cooking. She added: “It’s my journey as well. I came from South Africa 22 years ago, coming here was quite daunting, but you just get on with it. I’m hoping I have created a positive impact.”
Brilliant with her staff and attentive with her customers, everyone was greeted with a smile. Anna has undeniably made a very positive impact. You can find out more here.
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