21 Co Headingley: Meet the Leeds cafe providing paid employment opportunities for people with Down syndrome
A Leeds cafe and shop is creating employment opportunities for people with Down syndrome.
Founded in January 2019, 21 Co. is a five-star rated cafe and shop in Otley Road, Headingley, entirely run by people with Down syndrome.
Behind the venture is charity and Sunshine & Smiles Leeds Down Syndrome Network, which has a base in Stainbeck Lane.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, service manager Ailith Harley-Roberts said the cafe has grown from six employees to 11 over the last four years.
Ailith said: “Three of those people who started with us have moved into other employment, which is positive.
“For people with any kind of learning disability, they are much less likely to have any kind of paid employment.
“Fewer than eight per cent of people with additional learning needs are in paid employment.
“We felt that it was really important to give people the opportunity to have a job, to earn money, to contribute to their local community and local economy.
“There are different kinds of cafes [in Leeds] and a lot of people tend to volunteer rather than to be paid.
“And I think that we are unique in that sense. We pay all our staff the national living wage.”
Beyond employment, 21 Co. is proud to be able to help employees build skills and develop their independence.
It has also helped its employees find purpose, Ailith said.
Ailith added: “I think ultimately what we would like to do is to be able to support our employees with Down syndrome into thinking about what other career opportunities there might be and what they might want to do, so that we can support them to move into other employment if they want that.
“Another part of what's really important about 21 Co is raising awareness. We're just a cafe on the high street who happen to have 11 people with Down syndrome who work with us.
“We'd love to talk to people about what we do and it would be great if we could see lots and lots of other employers employing somebody with down syndrome and encourage other people to do that in the long term.”
Sunshine and Smiles, founded in 2013, offers support for families in Leeds who have a child or young person with Down syndrome; offering speech and language therapy, activities and individual family support. All income earned by the cafe is pumped back into the charity to expand services currently on offer.