Maidstone special needs school opens cafe to expand employability skills

Henry Luck visits Five Acre Wood's barista cafe which looks to give students with special needs a chance at expanding their skills and confidence.

Transcript

00:00The 4Rent Express has finally arrived at the station.

00:10After over a year in development, the special needs school, 5 Acre Wood in Maidstone, hosted

00:16a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the occasion.

00:20Crafted from the body of a 1960's first class buffet train, the journey to create 4Rent

00:26Express began in the summer of last year when planning permission was greenlit.

00:32The new training academy will serve to give students the opportunity to build industry

00:37ready catering skills by serving food and drink to the public.

00:42The 4Rent Express will give our youngsters who all have profound, severe or complex learning

00:47difficulties the opportunities to develop the industry ready skills that they need to

00:53get into the world of work.

00:55Currently only 5.1% of adults with learning difficulties have paid jobs.

01:01The 4Rent Express project aims to tackle this issue head on by creating clear pathways to

01:07employment for individuals with disabilities, helping to build a fairer and more inclusive

01:12society.

01:13Those in the training programme will have the direct support of barista experts.

01:19It's fantastic because getting this project off the ground, I've seen it from when there

01:23was nothing here, I've seen it when it was just a really empty shell of a train carriage

01:28and now for it to be full of people and the students from the school serving coffee is

01:33just a fantastic thing to see.

01:36How do the students feel about serving on the new train?

01:40What do you do on this?

01:43I help serve with like the teas, feeds, or to go.

01:49What are some of the things you do?

01:51What have you helped do with Jo this morning?

01:54We've done some cleaning, we've done some serving, and we've done some greeting, welcoming

02:00people on board.

02:01So what's your ultimate ambition once you are a chef then?

02:04Once I become a chef I'd like to open my own restaurant.

02:09Open your own restaurant.

02:10As someone on the autistic spectrum myself, I'm really excited by the work at By Baker

02:15Wood and it's looking to give their students a one-way ticket to success in the industry.

02:22Henry Luck for KMTV in Maidstone.