Chichester charity celebrates one year of great coffee, community and opportunities for young people with different abilities

Boardwalk Cafe is celebrating its first anniversary, marking a successful year of serving speciality coffee and tasty food while creating valuable training opportunities for young people with different abilities. 

Run by charity Together Our Community, the training cafe gives young people practical, hands-on experience in a commercial cafe environment where high standards are central to everyday service.  It brings together a welcoming place to enjoy a coffee with opportunities for young trainees to develop skills through real experience. 

At the heart of the anniversary celebrations is a heartfelt thank you to the cafe’s regular customers. Their support throughout the first year has helped make Boardwalk Cafe a success and supported the charity’s work to provide meaningful opportunities for its trainees. 

Customers can enjoy speciality coffee supplied by Cast Iron alongside a range of tasty bites to eat. The cafe is now adding freshly baked, homemade pastries, prepared and baked by its young trainees, giving visitors something new to try while offering trainees further practical experience in food preparation. 

The opportunities are growing beyond the cafe counter, too. Together Our Community is expanding the range of goods in its shop, working with Goodwood Farm and other local businesses to give young adults valuable experience in retail as well as hospitality. 

As Boardwalk Cafe enters its second year, the anniversary is both a celebration of what has been achieved and an invitation to be part of what comes next. Whether stopping for a favourite coffee, sampling a trainee-made pastry or browsing the shop, customers are supporting a local charity that puts practical experience and opportunity at the heart of its work.  

Barbara Drucvz, Boardwalk Cafe Manager, explains: "It has been a real pleasure to see our young people’s confidence grow in the cafe environment over the past year.  Our customers really appreciate the hard work and care they put into everything they do.  We’re so grateful to everyone who has supported us and helped make our first year so special.” 

Boardwalk Cafe is celebrating their 1-year birthday throughout November, so please pop in to say hello to the team at Boardwalk Cafe, Northgate, Chichester PO19 1AR.  You can also visit their website for more information on everything they do: www.tocommunity.org.uk