Coffee & Community: The Perfect Blend!
The ACE NSW team hosted Aspect Central Coast School’s coffee van this week, as part of a work education and employment program for students with Autism.
The Aspect Coffee Van travels to businesses along the Central Coast of NSW providing coffee in return for an opportunity to practice their latte-art!
The visit was coordinated by Somersby Administration Officer, Samantha Frampton.
“With R U OK coming up, it was the perfect opportunity to take a break from work and connect with our colleagues and the community,” said Frampton.
The coffee van operates as a social enterprise, allowing students to gain hands-on barista skills, as well as apply commercial and organisational skills.
As part of the visit, the students received a tour of the Somersby facility, including a safety induction and proper PPE.
The Somersby site houses a mechanical and fabrication and fitting facility, alongside an electrical factory with a 11kV test bay.
Regional Manager ACE NSW, Shane Wilson hosted the tour, providing the students with information about the various career opportunities within the Fenner group.
“We offer roles in both mechanical and electrical engineering and drafting, as well as project management, coordinating, administration and process work.”
“Our mechanical workshop can have a lot of banging and grinding, so we made sure students were comfortable with the noise, and were equipped with proper PPE.”
Ensuring the students had a positive experience learning about ACE’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities was important.
“Children with autism have so much to offer the workforce and there are so many opportunities within our industry,” Wilson explained.
“It’s our job as a business in their community to provide insight, so Aspect can help them identify what career pathway they want to pursue.”
Coordinator of Aspect Central Coast Senior College, Sarah Boulton, said the visit to Somersby was a positive experience for the students.
“The coffee van has been running for just over 12 months now. The students have been practicing their barista skills with teachers and other students up until now, so it’s great for their confidence to be serving businesses in the community – not to mention adapting to the fast pace!”
“They got a lot out of the workshop tour – it’s not every day high school students get to see how machinery works in real life. We may have a few future Fenner employees in the making!”
