Natalie Duo
This month I had the amazing opportunity to visit a place I've always wanted to go - Fair Shot Café. On a personal level, I am so grateful for the opportunity and support they give to people who have a
learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things.
. Fair Shot work with The Mencap Training Academy and our supported internship programme to provide incredible
work experience
Work experience is when you try out a job to help you learn new skills.
placements for learners.
In this article, I speak with three current learners as they approach the end of their programmes – Shekinah, Zaki and Maes. We talked about their experience Experience is when you have learned or tried something before. on the supported internship and with Fair Shot, and their plans for the future.
I also got the opportunity to have a tour around the private area above the cafe where there is a beautiful events space. There is also a room where learners can take their breaks and a dark room where they can go to relax if they become over stimulated. They use this less and less throughout the year as other cafes and hospitality employers learners go on to work for won't have these spaces, but it was so amazing to see this level of support in place and so inspiring to hear from the learners.
Let’s start with a bit about you. Please can you tell us who you are and what are your hobbies?
Shekinah: My name is Shekinah and I am a trainee at Fair Shot Café. My interests and hobbies are mostly around creativity like writing poems and songs and also cooking and baking – I've been making sugar cookies recently!
Zaki: My name is Zaki and I am twenty two years old and I work at Fair Shot Café. At home, I like watching movies and videos on TikTok, especially comedy videos, and playing on my Nintendo Switch. I also love learning new things!
Maes: My name is Maes and my hobbies include spending time with my friends and listening to music and my favourite singers like Taylor Swift. And I love playing with my dog – I have a cocker-spaniel!
Hear from Shekinah in our short video to learn about what it's like to do work experience with Fair Shot Café.
What have you been learning about in the classroom as part of your supported internship and how have the sessions helped you to develop your skills?
Shekinah: I’ve been learning about life skills with our tutor, Laura – how to plan our budgets and also other things that we’ll need in adulthood, as well as how to get a paid job.
Zaki: I have been learning a lot about life skills, like how to travel from one place to another. I’ve been learning how to plan a route to help me get somewhere. I’ve also been learning maths and English and working towards my maths and English targets. The sessions have really helped me to grow and to become independent and to know what’s right and wrong.
Maes: We’ve also been learning about finance and budgeting like how to read a pay slip and understand terms like net pay.
Zaki serving a
customer
A customer is a person who buys something or uses a service.
at the café. His Mencap Training Academy skills coach, Natalia watches on, ready to provide support if he needs it.
What do you do at the café?
Shekinah: We work on five different stations like food prep, milk stations, making the coffee, tills and floater stations which is very challenging because we have to adapt to lots of change. It’s been a really good experience!
Zaki: I do lots of customer service A service gives people what they need, like healthcare services that help people when they are ill, and support services that give people support. because I find it very interesting and love talking to customers. I also like serving the drinks and the customers.
Maes: I do coffee and milk. My skills coach has wanted me to focus on this more as the barista side of the role is what I would like to do as a paid job. I’ve been practicing my latte art which is really hard because you have to be so careful holding the cup with the hot coffee in one hand and then pouring the boiling hot milk in the other hand and pouring it in a way that makes the pattern. You have to do a lot of practice, but I’m getting good at it now and recently made a heart! I’m a bit of a perfectionist so I’ve worked really hard at it. I also do washing up as you’re expected to help with that when you work in a café, and I also help a bit with the food.
Maes at the coffee machine, ready to practice her amazing latte art some more!
How have Mencap and Fair Shot staff helped you in your work placement?
Shekinah: My skills coach has helped me to do the best I can do, like helping me to avoid conflict and how to do things professionally and adapt to change. The Fair Shot Café staff have helped me by teaching me new techniques every single week, how to work with different people and how to be flexible with our different responsibilities. They’ve been really helpful with that.
Zaki: My skills coach has been helping me by explaining tasks to me and asking if I have any problems or issues. I know if I do have any problems, I can easily go and talk to them about it. They’ve helped me to cope when I become tired in my placement. We agreed that when this happens, I should go outside and get some fresh air.
Maes: My skills coaches, Natalia and Harvey, and the Fair Shot team have helped me a lot, especially with things like my latte art. They also help me when I get upset to take a break upstairs and to calm down. They also plan the day so it doesn’t become too much. When we first come into the café in the morning we don’t start straight away with work, we sit down and have a catch up and a drink and then we start the day.
What do you want to do after you finish your supported internship?
Shekinah: I would like to get a paid job and do something that I love like creating stuff. One day, I think I would like to be an entrepreneur and start my own business, or maybe an actress! I’m really interested in stuff like that, thanks to my mum. But for now, I’m focusing on getting a paid job, that’s my ultimate goal right now.
Zaki: I want to apply for jobs in hospitality. I would like to work in another café, or maybe in a hotel where I could work in meet and greet which is what I really like doing. I want to work somewhere I can talk to customers.
Maes: I want to work in another café and become a barista. Fair Shot work with lots of other companies so I’m hoping they can help me find a job after the supported internship, I don’t mind which café, I just want to be a barista!
What would you say to young people thinking about doing a supported internship?
Shekinah: I would tell them that it’s a great opportunity and you shouldn’t hesitate to do something that you’ve not done before. A supported internship is a once in a lifetime opportunity so go for it. Embrace new experiences! Also, make sure that you work hard!
Zaki: My advice would be to go for it, give it all that you possibly can and believe in yourself. The supported internship programme is a life changer. It’s helped me become independent and to overcome challenges like making CVs, and how to look for jobs.
Maes: I would tell them to do it because it’s great getting to work with other learners who have all become my friends, and with the skills coaches and the Fair Shot staff. It’s like we’re all a big family and all care about each other. You won’t find a café like Fair Shot anywhere so you will benefit so much from the experience. I really hope that one day there will be more cafes like Fair Shot.
I was so inspired hearing from all the learners I spoke to about everything that they've achieved. At the end of our
interview
An interview is a meeting where you talk to someone or a group of people about something. When you have an interview for a job, you have to answer questions and say why you would be good at the job. The person who gives the best answers is offered the job.
, I felt I had to give them each a high five, or to shake their hand!
Natalie Duo is a co-trainer at Mencap, delivering learning disability awareness training to employers. She is a graduate of one of our supported internship programmes, during which time she completed work experience with The Financial Financial means anything that is to do with money. It is used to describe how people, businesses, or governments get money and how they use it Times. Natalie loves writing and regularly contributes articles featuring interviews with our employer partners and learners.