Family Day celebrates Training For You café opening

Training For You student Astarte Anderson enjoyed hosting her grandparents in the Little Campus Café. Pictured are Astarte Anderson (left), Charmaine Anderson, Kevin Anderson. Photo / Karen Hughes

Students on the hospitality programme at Training For You hosted families and campus staff in their café training venue, at a special event held ahead of the café's official opening.

Staff and families gathered for a morning tea, to give the students a dry run before the café opens to the public.

The Little Campus Café opens regularly for the Whanganui community at various times of the year, during programme delivery dates for the retail and hospitality courses. The Little Campus Café opened on Monday for its latest season and will run for four and a half weeks.

Students on the current hospitality, level 2 course started their training in September and have been learning barista skills, customer service, food handling, health and safety and more. Now, they are welcoming the opportunity to put their skills into practice in a real-life hospitality setting.

Training For You tutor Bex Carr said the family event was a good way to build the students' confidence.

"It gave them a great opportunity to practise their skills before they opened the café. Whānau and staff enjoyed tasting their new drink creations, and the students enjoyed serving them."

Graduates of the 15-week fulltime hospitality programme are awarded the New Zealand Certificate in Hospitality (Customer Service and Sales Support), Level 2.

The current cohort is shaping up to be a real success story, with four members of the group already employed at Springvale Café, Coffee Culture Cart, Whanganui Airport Café, Affco cafeteria and Nero Restaurant in Palmerston North. One plucky student has taken her learning to another level with the purchase of a coffee cart and a plan to start her own business once her qualification is achieved.

In accordance with Covid-19 restrictions, the cafe will operate within alert level 2 practices. Customers are asked to wear a mask, sign in, and wait to be seated. Previous regulars to the café will also notice that the venue now has purpose-built café tables and chairs which make for a lighter, brighter look and will make social distancing easier.

For just over four weeks (November 15-December 14), the Little Campus Cafe is open to the public from 9am-2pm, Monday to Friday, on the Training For You campus at 148 Ingestre St.

The café will serve coffees, herbal teas and iced frappes daily, and muffins and scones. Alternative milk options like almond milk and soy milk will be available. Large coffees are priced at just $2.50.

Free parking is available outside the Training For You campus and around the block.