Wanted: One coffee machine
The Christchurch City Mission could soon be giving barista training a shot – if it can source an espresso machine.
Unemployed women would be able to gain basic cafe and food preparation skills, which would give them a head start in the work force through a proposed new course, head missioner Matthew Mark said.
It would teach everything from the art of brewing the perfect trim latte to how to create soy flat whites, marshmallow-laden foamy mochachinos and everything in between.
The coffees would be served to visitors in a small yet-to-be established coffee corner run out of the mission’s Hereford St kitchen, which would run alongside an already successful cooking programme.
Several other courses that aimed to help isolated and vulnerable people into jobs were already under way and provided a chance for people who ‘‘might struggle in other environments’’ to develop skills and practical work experience internally, Mark said.
‘‘We’ve had a few other basic trade courses, and we’ve seen some positive outcomes from those, with some of our men particularly securing employment.’’
But before the course could begin, the mission needed to track down a commercial espresso machine, Mark said.
The courses were ‘‘very reliant on community partnership’’, and he hoped someone with a spare machine might hear their story and donate it to the programme.
While it was possible to purchase one from the mission’s funds, it was a huge expense and ‘‘every dollar that we spend we have to put out hand on our heart and say is this the best dollar utilised’’.
A group of women from the Christchurch Adventure Park cafe, which was severely damaged in February’s destructive Port Hills fires, had lent a helping hand by educating mission staff, who then taught women basic skills such as ‘‘food hygiene, cooking muffins and preparing healthy, easy, cost effective meals’’.
The coffee course was the next step and the brainchild of women who spotted a gap on the bench where a machine could be housed.
‘‘Initially, it was an idea that was hatched by a group of ladies who were cooking. We have a kitchen area that had room for a commercial espresso machine . . . It all went from there.’’
The mission hoped to ‘‘connect dots with others organisations in our community’’ and transfer the skills participants learned ’’into everyday life and secure employment’’.
‘‘This now is an opportunity for us to go into the environment in our community around the cafe culture . . . we can dovetail it in with other programmes that we are offering and then provide that bit of practical work experience internally.’’
"We've had a few other basic trade courses, and we've seen some positive outcomes from those.'' Christchurch City Mission head missioner Matthew Mark