As Olly progressed, it became clear that he thrived in a working environment. Although he continued attending college on some days, he expressed a strong desire to increase his hours with us. Following regular reviews of his progress and discussions with Olly, we offered him a full-time student role, with the clear aim of developing him into a paid member of staff.

During this stage, Olly worked across all areas of the café and also began training in our eco shop to further strengthen his customer service and retail skills. He showed real determination to complete his training and successfully achieved his Level 1 Food Hygiene qualification. He is now eager to progress towards Level 2.

As part of his ongoing development, we worked closely with Olly to understand where he felt most confident and what his long-term goals were. Olly shared that his ambition was to secure a paid role in the eco shop. With this in mind, and following discussions with the eco shop manager, Olly began volunteering in the shop on Saturdays to gain experience in a busy retail environment.

With continued 1-to-1 support from the eco shop manager, Olly developed his skills in customer service, till operation, and day-to-day shop duties. After several months, it was clear that he was ready to take the next step into paid employment.

When Olly first started with us, he described feeling “nervous but excited,” with the clear aim of gaining a paid role. We offered Olly a paid position in our eco shop in December 2025. He officially started his role in January 2026, marking a huge milestone in his journey towards meaningful, sustained employment.

Olly continues to work incredibly hard and has shared how excited and proud he feels in his new role. When asked about his future goals, he told us, “I would like to become a full-time staff member and be able to support a student independently.” Olly has also said that he feels well supported in his workplace and knows he can ask for help whenever needed, confident that staff will continue to support him every step of the way.

Thanks to the funding we’ve received from The National Lottery Community Fund, we’re able to continue supporting Olly with his training and helping him work towards his goal of securing full-time employment.

A defining moment of her progress came last year when she organised a trip to London to see Taylor Swift. Not only did Lindsey independently pack her own overnight bag, sort her spending money, put her amazing outfit together, she also arranged her own train ticket!

Lindsey quickly progressed through her employability training, earning an ASDAN qualification and discovering her ambition to build a career of her own. Recognising her potential, we initially offered her a part-time role supporting students in our employability programme. However, her talents truly excelled in hospitality, and we were proud to swiftly promote her to a front-of-house position. Today, Lindsey works independently, engaging confidently with customers, handling money and delivering exceptional service. She is consistently praised for her warmth, attentiveness, and dedication to creating a welcoming and positive experience for all.

Lindsey taken yet another huge step forward this month and has accepted an apprenticeship position with us. Here she will study, train and work simultaneously, setting the foundation for a long-term career. She has gone from a shy trainee to a confident and capable professional, proving that when someone believes in you, you begin to believe in yourself.

We are very grateful to the funding from the National Lottery. This support enables us to provide the guidance and opportunities that individuals like Lindsey need to build their confidence and create meaningful lives.

When staff sat down with Ellie to discuss her long-term goals, she shared that her dream is “to become a SEN teacher and help as many people as I can.” Recognising her ambition and natural ability to encourage others, the student support team began giving Ellie more responsibility in assisting and guiding fellow students. She embraced this role immediately and quickly became one of the students’ “go-to” people when they needed help or reassurance.

This responsibility has played a key role in building Ellie’s confidence and taking meaningful steps towards her dream career.

In November 2025, Ellie felt ready to take another step forward and secured a voluntary role for one day a week. She continues to grow in confidence, develop new skills, and play an important role in helping other students prepare for paid employment.

Reflecting on her journey, Ellie said:

“Before coming to Café Cornell, I stayed in my bed for three years because I didn’t feel like I had a purpose to get up. Now I get up every day excited to see everyone and meet new people. Never judge a book by its cover because you can’t always see a disability. I don’t feel like I should hide.”

Although Katie loved working in the kitchen and learning new skills, she expressed a strong interest in developing her front of house and customer service abilities. During a review of her role, Katie confidently shared that she would like the opportunity to try working front of house.

Recognising her enthusiasm and willingness to step outside her comfort zone, staff supported her in making this transition. They worked closely with Katie to develop her customer service skills, communication, and confidence when interacting with customers, ensuring she felt prepared and supported in her new responsibilities.

Within just a few weeks, Katie was confidently serving customers and using the till independently. She has worked incredibly hard and now also supports other students, helping to train them in developing their own front of house skills — a true reflection of how far she has come.

Demonstrating her continued ambition, Katie approached the manager to express her interest in starting an apprenticeship to gain a Level 2 qualification in Hospitality and Food, further developing her skills and career opportunities.

When reflecting on her journey, Katie said:

“I feel proud of myself for proving everyone wrong. I love my job and I feel I have come a long way since starting at Café Cornell. The staff have been very supportive and have allowed me to grow and show off my skills in different areas.”

After completing his training and building confidence in his abilities, Carl decided it was time to search for paid employment. He approached staff about a role he was interested in, and we supported him to update his CV and submit his application. Following a successful interview, Carl secured a paid position in Domestic Hygiene for two days a week at a residential home.

Carl continues to develop his skills and has recently completed a range of training modules to further support him in his role.

Reflecting on his journey, Carl said:

“Everyone at EEG has supported me so well to build my confidence, apply for the job and go to the interview. Thanks to everything they’ve taught me, I can now earn my own money and I’m in a job I really enjoy! I’m excited about the future!”

Staff could clearly see how hard Sophie was working, and her goal never changed. She remained focused on securing a full-time role in a nursery. Sophie later approached staff with a job opportunity she had found that matched her ambition. Staff worked closely with her to perfect her CV and ensure she felt confident and prepared for her interview.

Following a successful interview, Sophie secured a full-time role at a local children’s nursery.

Reflecting on her time at Café Cornell, Sophie said:

“Thank you to everyone at Café Cornell for all the support. The employability sessions really made a difference, and I am so proud of myself for achieving my goal.”

Enterprise East offered Tiffany a volunteering role in their offices for two days a week, they discussed her aspiration and fears and agreed her responsibilities which would include admin and social media. Although this was a very new experience for Tiffany, she has said that she thoroughly enjoys the role and feels supported to try new things. Tiffany has agreed to help with coordinating the family/carer meetings and she has said this would be something she would enjoy doing. Tiffany said that she was also interested in events and hospitality delivery, so Enterprise East have agreed to enrol her for some accredited training in customer service. Enterprise East has seen how incredibly hard Tiffany has worked over the last few months and believe she shows true potential and were delighted to be able to offer her an apprentice position, which she has accepted.

Message from Tiffany- “I just want to say thank you to Enterprise East for supporting me and giving me the opportunity to flourish in this industry. I can’t wait to be able to help others who are in the same position that I was in. I can’t believe I am sitting in meetings and standing at the front of so many people in presentations! I am so looking forward to my future.”

Message from Tiffany’s mentor- “I would like to thank Enterprise East for offering a chance to the young woman that I am supporting. Tiffany is over the moon by the professional and supportive way that Sam and the team has communicated with her through the whole process, starting from my initial enquiry to her interview and then induction into the company. I knew that this would be the correct placement for her as she has a lot of creative skills that Enterprise East would bring out and develop as well as her business admin skills.”

Christine, Specialist youth mentor, BBO, Herts

At first SB was reluctant to participate in any group discussions, he had told another member of the workshop that he had lost a whole friendship group. We knew that SB was very articulate and had been on several excel and IT courses, we also knew that he had gained 11 GCSEs at school. We asked him to work alongside one of our volunteers to help design and build our website. Although SB did not want to engage with our volunteer directly, he offered his opinions and ideas in the workshops. Over time SB formed a friendship with another member of the workshops who we will refer to as AM. AM had some additional learning difficulties and  would often struggle to hold in his emotions. This friendship matured and both felt more confident to contribute to the workshops, moreover, to take ownership of agreed roles and responsibilities for the community event at the end of the workshops.. We all decided that it would be a good idea to ‘buddy up’ the friends for both support and reassurance and the results were remarkable.

Both participants went above and beyond to ensure the event was a success, it was evident that they were enjoying every minute and having fun along the way. We had so many compliments about their friendliness, professionalism and hard work. Both participants were so proud, and SB asked for the testimonials to go onto our website, which has been done.

Since then, both participants have been given casual paid work with Enterprise East to work on several community events. We have also been asked specifically for them to work on an upcoming event. They have formed a great friendship, gained transferable skills and contributed to many of our community events. SB has said he would like to look at self-employment , we have put him in touch with The Princes Trust. AM is continuing to work with us on a casual basis, AM always puts his name forward when we are commissioned to provide services for an event. Am told us that although he had to wait until he was 27 to get his first pay check, it was the best day of his life.

BL was very excited about being involved in this project and felt her skills were best placed in planning and budgeting for community events. However, throughout our workshops, BL discovered that she still very much enjoyed working with people in the community and would often put forward ideas at our workshops for additional social meetings that often-included social activities such as cinema, community dog walks and a London theatre trip.

BL said that she has made so many new friends since joining our programme and although she does not wish to work, she would like to continue to offer her voluntary services to any future projects.

Since our project BL has asked us to help and support her to start a small charity made up of retired women with skills and knowledge to offer. The aim of the charity will be to offer help to good causes in their community. We have naturally agreed and are working with BL to make this dream a reality. The name of her group is, Helping Hands. We have put her in touch with The Community Volunteer Services, the CAB and have given her the links to the charities commission. We have also agreed to promote their service on all our social media platforms once her charity goes live.