Lily & Lime cafe in Southsea reopens as part of the Minstead Trust, offering more training opportunities for people with learning disabilities

On Friday, February 11, the Lily & Lime cafe in Portsmouth Central Library reopened with an event attended by the Lord Mayor.

The cafe was taken over in September 2021 by the Minstead Trust, a charity which offers support to people with learning disabilities and autism to help them progress into paid employment.

Chris Hillman, head of employability at the Minstead Trust, said that the main purpose of the trust is to give opportunities to people with learning disabilities to demonstrate their capabilities and show what they can achieve when given the opportunity.

He said: ‘The cafe is another opportunity to show that the Minstead Trust is there for them and how much there is for someone with a learning disability in the city, and also to show the general public what they’re capable of and to show their success stories with as many people as we can.

‘It’s all about them, their stories and what they can achieve with just a bit of support and we’re so proud every day to be able to offer that support.’

Also attending the event were a number of the Minstead Trust’s partners such as Havant and South Downs College, which supports the trust in offering apprenticeships, and Laly’s Pharmacy, with whom the trust are hoping to open another cafe soon.

Louisa, 24, from Portsmouth, has worked at the cafe since 2016 and said the opportunity has given her so much more confidence.

She said: ‘I love baking and I help with baking the cakes. I also serve customers and help out with events which I love because I love chatting and meeting new people, any time there’s an event I make sure I’m here.

‘Working at the cafe has given me such a confidence boost and I’ve been able to meet so many people.’

Sophie Enright is the cafe manager and said it’s fantastic to be open again.

She said: ‘It’s been so busy but everyone’s been so lovely. It’s become way bigger than what we expected it to be which is just brilliant. It’s not just a cafe, it’s part of something so much bigger and the fact that people are coming along to support it just shows how important it is for the city.’

For more, visit minsteadtrust.org.uk.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.