A community cafe based in the heart of the Shankill area has launched a new initiative aimed at giving back and helping the most vulnerable.
USEL's Ability Cafe, at the Spectrum Centre, provided opportunities for people with a disability or health condition in the hospitality industry. Every year, USEL employ, support and train over 1,200 people across Northern Ireland.
On each Wednesday of the month of October, between 2pm and 4pm, the Ability Cafe will be providing free two-course meals to anyone struggling with the cost-of-living. With a 'no questions asked' approach, the team hope that it will encourage those who may need it, to avail of the service.
Read more: Belfast Ability Cafe helping people with disabilities gain employment
USEL CEO Bill Atkinson spoke to Belfast Live as they launched the new initiative which he says is about giving back to the community which supports them.
"We have five ability coffee shops and have been on this site at the Spectrum Centre for a little over two years supporting around ten jobs and use it not just to create employment but as one of our main training hubs," Bill added.
"We have a range of programmes, so people in the area will come onto one of those programmes and helps them to build the necessary skills and confidence and they will come here for work experience. Then we will hopefully move them on to full time employment from there. USEL will support the individual when they are out of work, we will get them a job, and then we'll stay with them to offer support while they are in work, to help them stay.
"We open 8:30am to 4pm, five days a week for breakfast and lunch and we also run our outside catering contracts from here. From the day and hour we opened, the community support has been very strong. We have a steady flow and it's something that is based in the community, for the community and most of the people who we bring through, yes some travel from other parts of Belfast, but many of them can walk here. They live in the community that they are working in.
"That is what makes our new initiative an important one, for us. You can't lift a paper or turn the radio on without hearing about the cost-of-living crisis. People are getting it tight, and we have an opportunity here to give back to our community.
"Between McAtamneys in Ballymena, and the Hendersons Group, who have both donated produce, we will be offering a free two-course meal from 2-4pm every Wednesday, to whoever needs it. It will be on for the next four weeks, and there is no questions asked. If someone comes in for their lunch, we will be there for them.
"We won't be asking any questions about their background or anything like that. It is something we are giving back. Going forward, if this is something we need to do more of, we can do that too."
DUP councillor Nicola Verner hailed the new initiative, and the work that USEL has done in the Greater Shankill area.
"The Ability Cafe here at the Spectrum has always been central to supporting people in the Shankill, in a number of different guises," she added.
"What USEL has brought recently with the employment scheme has been amazing and they are part of the family now."
JJ Lyttle told Belfast Live that the team at the Ability Cafe is one in a million. Nothing is too much trouble for them, and they're always putting others first, he says.
"We have some people here who have been here from day one," JJ added.
"They have been through training from two great skills coaches Emma and Jim, who give them everything they need to go out into the workplace, wherever it may be. The training could be in the kitchen, outside catering, barista.
"The training is so important. Some of the guys who have been here for a few years, when we open somewhere new, they come along too because they just know what they are doing. No matter what comes along, they are straight there.
"We have one guy here who has been with us for under two years and he has won a handful of awards, and we are so proud. What a transformation he has had. This young lad is just brilliant and he was given that support from Jim and Emma through their training.
"We have a training kitchen and what we are doing today is for people struggling, we'll be here to help them. Working with local suppliers and our brilliant team in the kitchen, we'll be serving two-course meals every week.
"People who need it, don't have to come here and eat the meals. We have takeaway boxes so that they can come, take what they need and go home. We get great support in this community and we want to put something back into the area.
"The Ability Cafe is great, the craic with the younger ones in the kitchen is brilliant. They guys love working with both Jim and Emma, and we would be lost without them. Nothing is too much trouble for them.
"There are times where it can be pressurised in here, when it is busy, but we get through it, because we are one big team. We have a great bunch of people here and we can't thank them enough."
Video by Belfast Live Videographer Dylan Hegarty.
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