MORE THAN MAKING COFFEE

At Cooked, learning happens on the job. Our hospitality training pathway gives young people the opportunity to get hands-on experience in a working food and beverage business, learning the ropes across our coffee vans, food outlets, catering and events.

Participants get involved in all parts of the operation, from preparing food and making coffee to taking orders, serving customers, handling payments, managing stock and working as part of a team.

Our approach is built around choice, trust, consistency and understanding. We take the time to get to know each participant, understand their goals, identify any support needs and work alongside them to create an experience where they can participate meaningfully. This means providing clear expectations, predictable routines, positive encouragement and the flexibility to adapt when things don't go to plan.

It's about how we treat people, how we respond to concerns, how we establish professional boundaries and how we make sure participants have a voice in their own learning. Our team takes responsibility for creating safe environments, recognising potential risks, responding to disclosures appropriately and ensuring concerns are managed through established safeguarding and reporting processes.

At Cooked, we use a strengths-based assessment, tailored to each cohort, to understand participants' abilities, interests, learning preferences and support needs.

Working alongside participants, their referring care teams and existing support networks, we develop individualised support plans, strategies and achievable learning goals. This helps us build on existing strengths and provide consistency across their support environments.

Our in-house, module-based induction introduces participants to different areas of hospitality while allowing us to understand their interests, confidence and readiness to participate.

We design practical tasks around individual goals and encourage participation when participants are ready. Through ongoing feedback, informal check-ins, observation and structured reviews, we monitor progress, identify emerging interests and adapt support as needed.

Our approach is structured but flexible, giving every participant room to explore, develop and progress in a way that works for them.

At Cooked, we want participants to leave with more than hospitality skills. We support participants to develop resumes, gain professional references and build relationships that can open doors to future opportunities. Where opportunities arise, there may also be options for paid employment within Cooked.

We also create opportunities for young people to contribute beyond the day-to-day operations of the business. This includes having a voice in program design, engaging with Cooked's lived experience board members and exploring opportunities to use their own experiences to inform, influence and improve the services and opportunities available to others.

We believe lived experience is valuable expertise, and young people should have meaningful opportunities to shape the programs, services and communities they are part of.