Inside the Leeds Dock coffee classroom which is teaching unemployed people how to become baristas from scratch
Here’s how an innovative employability programme is training people through coffee ☕
North Star Coffee Roasters at Leeds Dock has a very unique kind of classroom.
Alongside the tables and chairs, and the papers and pens, are coffee machines and flavour charts.
This is where social enterprise Well Grounded is training unemployed Leeds locals how to thrive in the coffee industry.
The fully-funded programme, which can take four to nine weeks depending on prior experience, offers adults not in education, work, or training, the opportunity to learn vital barista skills.
Kieran John Fitzpatrick, Well Grounded’s Regional Programme Lead for the Leeds Academy, sees the training initiative as an opportunity for unemployed people of all ages and backgrounds to realise their potential.
“There’s a lot of barriers to getting a coffee job such as lack of experience or lack of awareness from employers on how to bring people into a business with no knowledge of coffee,” Kieran told the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“Our programme takes somebody from knowing nothing about coffee and gets them to a point where we think they could confidently go into any coffee shop and have the skills to do a great job.”
Well Grounded arrived in Leeds in October last year, following previous success in London and Bristol.
So far, 71 people have graduated from the social enterprise’s Leeds programme and the training has helped many find jobs that they are now flourishing in.
One of these graduates is Mika Kaleja, 24, who had previously been finding a barista job difficult due to limited disability-friendly training opportunities.
After a work coach connected them to Well Grounded, Mika was able to build barista knowledge, develop their confidence, and work on CV and cover letter skills, and now they have a job at North Star, right next door to the academy.
Mika said: “I thought I might as well give it a try.
“It showed me that I can do something if I put my mind to it - I didn’t think I could go into this field before but it made me feel like I can make a difference.”
Alongside sessions at the North Star Coffee Hub, Well Grounded connects its cohorts of 12 to work experience opportunities at coffee shops across Leeds, so they can get direct experience in the industry.
Nix Harper, 23, another graduate of Well Grounded’s training programme, had previously worked in hospitality yet still found they were rejected from barista roles due to a lack of experience.
“I was mainly doing customer service and I’d been wanting to go into a coffee shop but any time I applied I didn’t have close to what they were looking for.,” Nix said.
“The service should be enough but skills-wise I didn’t have it.”
She found that Well Grounded helped break this barrier to entry by taking the time employers didn’t seem to have to train her.
The programme gives trainees an insight into how to make barista-standard americanos, cappuccinos, lattes, and more, alongside where the coffee comes from and why.
For Nix, this gave them a new appreciation for the skills needed to work in the coffee industry.
Nix said: “It gave me a new interest in baristas in general.
“A lot of people think it’s just a breeze to make some coffee but (barista work) is a completely different thing.”
Both Mika and Nix also highlighted that the patient and friendly training at Well Grounded created a comfortable environment to learn in that they hadn’t previously experienced.
Individuals can access Well Grounded’s training programme either through referrals from job centres, charities, and other social enterprises, or self-refer through their website.
The support is long-lasting as the social enterprise hosts monthly refresher sessions which trainees can choose to attend for further career advice.
The social enterprise also encourages other organisations which want to become involved with the programme to reach out.
Kieran has worked with Well Grounded across the UK since 2019 and for him what stands out most is the motivation of the “amazing” trainees who are ready to make the most of the opportunity.
“Knowing we’ve played a part in somebody’s growth is really important and it's why I continue doing my job.
“I’ve supported hundreds of graduates over the years but somehow a single coffee from one of them any day of the week just makes me feel so proud and grateful that I get to be part of their journey.
“It’s a feeling that never stops being amazing.”