Long-standing charity of more than five decades to open a new cafe in Northampton in the coming months
A long-standing charity of more than five decades is set to open a new cafe in Northampton in the coming months.
Spectrum Northants is a day provision that offers support to adults with learning disabilities, autism and mental health issues from their two premises in the town centre and Duston.
The team offers short and long-term placements, as well as school and college holiday cover, in which service users are treated with respect in a caring and supportive environment.
The charity first opened in the county in 1971 and Mark Mitchell, who has been the chief executive for the past three years, shared more on this exciting addition to Spectrum.
Both the Berrywood Road and William Street premises are open Monday to Friday, and host a range of activities for the adults who attend.
The Duston site is also home to a charity shop, which will celebrate its eighth anniversary in April. This was introduced at a time when the team saw value in offering retail training to service users, including serving on the till, sorting through donated items, and getting them ready to sell.
The charity shop is open from 9am until 4pm every Monday to Saturday and has proved a success during its first seven years.
Now, the team is working towards opening a cafe. This will be situated alongside the charity shop and their day centre in Berrywood Road.
The hope is for service users to gain as much value from the cafe as they have from the charity shop, as they will undergo catering training to build confidence and independence.
The builders are now going “full steam ahead” to get the job done, and Mark says the target opening time is the end of February or start of March as good progress has been made.
“It’ll be a cafe with a social purpose,” Mark told the Chronicle & Echo. “Our service users will be part of the customer experience – taking orders, serving and clearing up. We hope it’s a value that people will buy into, as our main difference is the social purpose.”
Once open to the public, the cafe will serve a range of hot and cold drinks, cakes prepared at their William Street premises, paninis and sandwiches.
Mark spoke of the difference it makes when members of the community visit their charity shop, and how this will be the same when the cafe is open.
“It makes a really big difference,” he said, sharing that the charity shop money has enabled them to employ a horticultural lead to grow more food and improve their outdoor offering.
Reinvesting this money back into the charity has also allowed them to install solar panels, and cover day trips for the service users without asking for contributions from their families.