Visitors to Cwmbran Community Hub and Library can buy drinks from today this week to enjoy with their books and clubs.
The Coffi Cart is run in partnership with mental health charity Growing Space, which works with people with mental health conditions and learning disabilities. It will act as a volunteer training programme supporting people of working age with work-limiting health conditions and disabilities to develop skills and experience towards suitable employment.
Participants can gain practical experience in barista skills, customer service, food hygiene, health and safety and retail.
Bill Upham, CEO at Growing Space, said: “This exciting and innovative initiative will improve the well-being of all who engage with it and provide community-based solutions that will ease the demand on statutory services”
The Coffi Cart will operate during normal library opening times and offers tea, coffee and cold drinks.
Cllr Peter Jones, Torfaen Council’s Executive Member for Corporate Governance and Performance, said: “The Coffi Cart responds directly to what library users told us they wanted, while also creating opportunities for people to develop valuable skills, experience and confidence.
“It’s a great example of the approach we are taking our Torfaen Community Hub and Libraries, bringing opportunities and support together in a welcoming community setting.”
The project has been made possible through £51,000 of Welsh Government Economic Inactivity Trailblazer funding.
Cwmbran Library already hosts around 34 regular groups, alongside advice and information services, as part of the council’s approach to bringing more services and activities together under one roof.
The initiative is based on a similar model at St Cadoc’s Hospital in Newport, with Able also supporting referral routes into the programme.
