Help people with learning difficulties help themselves 

I have visited The Tea Trolley - a community cafe run by Nottingham Mencap - on a weekly basis for much of the last 8 years.  It is a social enterprise established to give Nottingham Mencap service users and volunteers opportunities to gain valuable work experience and qualifications.  One of its ultimate aims is to help more people with learning difficulties get into paid and voluntary work. 

Offering an extensive menu that include healthy and super-cheap options,  the majority of the meals including their fabulous soups and range of cakes are home-made and prepared by volunteers.  

They are currently in the process of planning a refurbishment in order to allow them to teach more people with learning difficulties. As part of this refurbishment they are planning to purchase a good quality coffee machine which all of these funds will go towards .

Not only will this help the Tea Trolley compete against big brands and increase coffee sales, it will also be invaluable in helping train their learners on a piece of equipment now commonplace in most catering establishments. By including Barista training in their already extensive programme, it will further enable people to be more successful in finding work when they leave.  

This is a fantastic initiative with a long track record of making a genuine and most importantly sustainable difference to people's lives. 

Your donation will go directly to purchasing the coffee machine which will make a real, measurable difference to supporting people with learning difficulties. 

If you'd like to see for yourself the work that Nottingham Mencap do, please pop into the Tea Trolley on Angel Row next time you're in Nottingham city centre.  I've added a few photographs below of the volunteers. 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.