By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
MADCAP Cafe – a hospitality training ground for people with a mental illness or disability – is set to expand its partnership with a home-improvement retail chain.
Buttressed by a $500,000 grant from the Ian Potter Foundation, three new cafes are planned to open in Masters stores in the next 18 months.
Peter Waters, chief executive of Eastern Ranges Mental Health Association – which runs the cafes, said the partnership would open up further vocational pathways for trainees.
“It’s terrific news – it will allow us to extend the number of opportunities we can provide for training placements for real work.”
The Masters partnership is a new step for the acclaimed cafes which are largely based at shopping centres and shopping strips, its oldest being at Fountain Gate.
Other such outlets are in Parkville and Geelong, with a catering kitchen in Frankston.
The cafes’ aim is to provide industry-standard, on-the-job training for people with a mental illness or disability so they can enter or re-enter the workforce.
Mr Waters said Madcap would push its future ventures into Masters stores, starting with a recent opening in Hawthorn.
He made no promises over the future of the Fountain Gate cafe, but “we will maintain a presence in the south-east – we’re looking at our business model.”
