Supported Internships

Of course, we never lose sight of why Mission EmployAble (MEA) is so unique. We train young adults, aged 18-25 with a learning disability, to become employable. Our interns come from the surrounding areas of Herts and Bucks, and commit to the supported internship programme in conjuction with the Bucks College Group.

They will be trained by a wonderful team headed up by training manager, Cass Langham, within our training centre based in the Café on The Common, Chorleywood.

Our current interns are stunning us with their skills, enthusiasm and commitment to the programme. Best of all, they are clearly enjoying their on-the-job training inside the café and other outside work experiences that are part of their work employability training course.

Could You Employ One Of Our interns?

Employers tell us that adults with a learning disability are hard-working, reliable, eager to please and popular with both colleagues and customers. All they need is a sympathetic employer and some initial support in their role. With our help, you can easily become a ‘disability friendly’ employer. You will soon see that employing a young adult with a learning disability is as rewarding for you as it is for them.

If you think you can offer permanent part-time paid work, up to 20 hours, to one of our interns once they finish their training in July, click here to view the flyer, or please contact: claudine.hall@missionemployable.co.uk

Click to download the PDF.

Most people have heard of Bring Your Daughter To Work Day, an initiative to encourage girls to consider professions where women are under-represented, but one Herts company went a step further by allowing employees to bring their dog into the office for one day, in return for a donation to a charity.

Minerva IT Services, which is based in Potters Bar, opened its doors to canine friends of all shapes and sizes on its first Paws For A Cause Day in June, raising more than £200 for Chorleywood charity MEA.

Victoria Livingston, marketing manager for Minerva said: 'I am always looking for new ways to help the community and when I heard that [Minerva director and Chorleywood Cricket Club member] John Chadwick was involved with MEA's dog-friendly café in Chorleywood, I came up with Paws For A Cause.'

John Chadwick said: 'Everyone brought in their dogs, who happily wagged their tails, which had a positive impact on the team, who couldn't stop smiling all day.'

MEA Café On The Common manager Annie Baker said: "We know that sound well, a combination of people laughing and the odd dog bark, fills our café, every day."

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A Family Day Out & Afternoon Teas

"The seas of bluebells were quite magical, especially when the sun broke through the pale green of the tree canopy." - Rachel Hatfield

Location:
Crosslane Wood, Burtons Lane, Chalfont St. Giles
Dates:
Sunday 5th May, 11am-4pm
Monday 6th May, 10am-3pm
Tickets:
£28 Family Ticket
£10 Adult Ticket
£6 Concessionary ticket for over 60’s
Children under 12 FREE

Tickets: Sunday
Tickets: Monday
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Local resident Simon Elson is running the Southampton marathon in April, 2024, to raise money for our charity.

"MEA is an incredible organisation and a real asset to the local community," said Simon. "I cannot think of a worthier cause to raise money for."

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We have created an exciting new full-time role for a Head of Charity Operations. The successful candidate, who should be available as soon as possible, will be involved in all aspects of our work, responsible for our charitable objectives and will be a key and active member of our team.

The post holder will report to the Board of Trustees and be accountable for both leadership and operational duties.

RESPONSIBILITIES/JOB DESCRIPTION:

• Based in Chorleywood, you will work with the Training Manager and Café Manager to provide excellent 'supported internship' training to our interns and ensure that our café remains a popular and successful hub at the heart of the community.
• If you have a passion for helping others and the ability to lead, inspire and problem-solve as part of a team, this is a dynamic and varied job for you.
• You need to have a degree or NVQ equivalent, experience in hospitality, strong business acumen and ideally experience of working with people with a learning disability. You will also need an enhanced DBS.
• This unique role comes with a competitive remuneration package and brings with it the privilege of knowing that you are making a real difference

For a full job description and an application form, please contact the Chair of MEA Katharine Weston via email on: katharine.weston@missionemployable.co.uk

It was a real pleasure to have Cheryl stop by our Café on The Common this week and show her support for our charity. Our intern George was delighted to demonstrate his customer service skills and received some lovely feedback.

Thank you Cheryl for popping in - it was great to meet you!

'You may remember our last blog introducing ourselves - a new Hertfordshire based charity who run year-long supported internships for adults with an EHCP aged 18 - 25, living in Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and beyond.

We are pleased to announce that our training cafe in Chorleywood is now up and running, and is proving to be a big success both with our interns, and our customers!'

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The car park in front of the Café on the Common can be busy even when the Café is not busy!

To check if the Café has tables free:
Pop in to check, visit our Café page, or use our availability app mentioned here.

Note that the Café is close to several other car parks:
Overflow car park 2 min.
Chorleywood House 2 min.
In front of Christ Church Primary School 5 min.

A group of students from Northwood College is raising money for Chorleywood-based charity MEA by taking part in the Hatch End Junior Triathlon Under 9s on May 21, for which they will swim 250m, cycle 2km and run 1.2km.

The 10 girls were inspired after sisters Keira and Shailee visited MEA’s training café on Chorleywood Common with their parents and brother Kush, who has Downs Syndrome.

The sisters’ mother Nisha said:

‘Your mission is just wonderful and will be so valuable to us and many others.

We are keen to support you because what you are doing helps raise awareness of all that can be achieved by people with learning disabilities.’

Erica Bendall, a trustee of MEA, said:

‘The Soni sisters and their schoolfriends are just the latest Northwood people to be so generous.

We hope more Northwood people will visit our lovely café and that young adults with learning disabilities from the Northwood area will apply for one of our internships this September.’

Applications are open for MEA supported internships starting in September.

Applicants must be 18 – 25 years old and be working at entry level 2 in functional English and Maths.

For details of internships:

Internships

To donate to Keira, Shailee and their classmates’ Triathlon in aid of MEA:

Donate

"In April we welcomed our first group of student interns from MEA to globalbridge. This talented group of young people will be using their globalbridge profiles to showcase the amazing skills they are developing on their internships, which includes running their community café!"

- globalbridge

We are delighted that two local heroes are supporting us this spring.

• Chorleywood resident Brent Mullane, who raised £14,000 for us by completing four marathons in 2021/22, is once again putting on his running shoes
• Loudwater resident Lisa Marheineke also has itchy feet

Sponsor Brent

Sponsor Lisa

A Family Day Out & Afternoon Teas

"The seas of bluebells were quite magical, especially when the sun broke through the pale green of the tree canopy." - Rachel Hatfield

Location:
Crosslane Wood, Burtons Lane, Chalfont St. Giles
Dates:
Sunday 30th April, 12pm-4pm
Monday 1st May, 10am-3pm
Tickets:
£28 Family Ticket
£10 Adult Ticket
£6 Concessionary ticket for over 60’s
Children under 10 FREE

Tickets: Sunday
Tickets: Monday
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Even though the Café on The Common is up and running we have decided, after many requests to reopen the woodlands and pop up café, for the May Day Bank holiday, Sunday and Monday. Open for people of all ages to explore these magnificent ancient bluebell woodlands.

MEA has been given access to the ancient Crosslane Wood (on Burtons Lane), so that families, individuals, children and grandparents can admire its stunning bluebells.

The Bluebell Walk makes a lovely outing for the whole family, including the dog.

Visitors will be able to wander along a marked path in the woods and buy teas, homemade cakes and soft drinks from a pop-up woodland café.

All proceeds from the day go to MEA to continue with their charitable work fulfilling lives young adults with learning disabilities.

Free parking and disabled access will both be signposted (If you require disabled access which has a different point of entry into the woods, please contact erica@missionemployable.co.uk once you have made your booking).

Dogs must be kept on a lead.

Ricky’s Famous Cinnamon Buns Available From Chorleywood Café

Fans of Rickmansworth’s Cinnamon Square Bakery delicious cinnamon buns will be delighted to know that the signature buns can still be enjoyed in Chorleywood.

Now that the Cinnamon Café is run as a bakery, rather than as a café, owners Paul and Tricia Barker wanted their much sought after buns (a sort of Danish pastry with creamy icing) to be available elsewhere and chose Chorleywood’s Café on the Common as the venue.

The couple were so impressed by the new café, which is run by the charity MEA, that they approached café manager Tom Neath to ask if he would consider a partnership.

The buns are already proving enormously popular, with more than 150 sold in the first week.

‘We’ve watched the building [Café on the Common] going up and as we always enjoyed meeting customers in our own café, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to get our buns to new customers and to be part of the incredible MEA story,’ said Paul and Tricia.

Tom Neath said: ‘It is a real feather in our cap to be given the chance to be the exclusive sellers of these buns, which really put Ricky on the map - and now us.

‘People can’t get enough of them.’

Great News! We are selling Cinnamon Square Buns!

We couldn’t be more delighted when Paul popped in last week to support us here at MEA with his historic and much loved Cinnamon iced bun - perfect when warmed.

Front of House

We are keen to recruit reliable and friendly front of house team members to work in our new Café on the Common, Chorleywood.

More Details

Accounting / Bookkeeper

We are looking for a someone to help keep their accounts up-to-date and accurate. This will be a part-time role with an estimated 10-15 hours a week needed.

More Details

"Alas the time has come and it’s a privilege to add a little to the amazing fundraising you and the team have achieved" said Helene the morning of her cycling challenge to Paris 7-11th September.

We can't thank you enough, Helene, for cycling from London to Paris in the pouring rain for 4 days, covering 335 miles, in 20 miles-an-hour head winds! You are a MEA hero!

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