Mission EmployAble’s training facility, Café on The Common, provides a bespoke and supported employment scheme for young adults with learning disabilities.

Each candidate completes a Learning, Employment and Progression Diploma in affiliation with a local College.

Candidates cover core units such as Communicating Effectively with Customers, Food and Hygiene Safety, and working with the Global Bridge Group, which is a pioneering EdTech platform that connects young people and education with employers, apprenticeships and universities. Bespoke units include crossing roads for pedestrians, using money for shopping, and understanding bus and train timetables to get access to work. These units are delivered alongside in-house work placements at our café.

The in-house work placements provide an opportunity for candidates to learn new skills in a safe working environment, allowing them to build their confidence and make mistakes as they learn.

The candidates then progress to supported external work placements with a wide range of employers, local to where the interns reside.

We encourage candidates to step out of their comfort zone and experience a variety of opportunities so that they can understand the roles that suit them best. Our aim is that candidates are offered a longer work placement with a view to permanent part-time employment.

A unique aspect of our work programme is the opportunity for candidates to continue developing their communication skills, social skills and self-confidence through a fun and stimulating enrichment programme. The largely team-based activities facilitate collaborative problem solving, flexible thinking and resilience, all essential skills needed to manage in a complex work environment.

Our work with local charities and the local community brings in outside expertise and builds upon candidates' wider networks within the community, opening doors to social events.

Our candidates' voice is at the heart of everything we do. We actively promote self-advocacy and independence at every opportunity.

Mission EmployAble’s training café prepares candidates for the workplace and develop their capacity to lead happy fulfilled lives by discovering new talents, making new friends and creating connections to the wider community.

We work in partnership with a wide range of community organisations and local businesses throughout Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in order to find suitable employment opportunities for young adults with learning disabilities.

We provide companies with guidance and advice on employing young people with learning disabilities. We engage with CEOs, heads of CSR and heads of HR departments to facilitate the provision of appropriate working conditions for young adults. Our trainers come on-site with the candidates in their first few weeks of work to add support for companies.