The Garden Café supports adults with severe and enduring mental ill-health, to take control of their recovery, develop skills, and lead meaningful lives.
With support from staff and volunteers, members consider positive changes they want to make, then set goals in order to attain these changes. We acknowledge that this can be hard work, so regular time is set aside to reflect on how things are going, both as a team and individuals.
The role in the café is for members to be part of a friendly team, and help run our ethical café, serving our community. You don’t need to have experience in kitchens or in retail. We are here to teach you. All you need is to be able to attend regularly and work with us.
The day for café members runs from 9.15am and 4.00pm, Monday to Friday. Lunch is provided. Members usually attend one or two days a week.
Members arrive between 9:00am and 9:15am. Our Breakfast Club is a time to socialise with each other.
At 9:30am we have our morning team meeting to plan the day and decide who is doing what. There are usually two people at the till, serving customers tea, coffee and cakes. The rest of the team is in the kitchen.
At 10:00am the café opens to the public. The kitchen team will begin prep work for lunches.
At 12 noon the kitchen is open for hot meals. We serve a variety of ethical and organic dishes and snacks.
At 2:00pm the kitchen closes and we start clearing everything away.
At 3:00pm the café closes and we have our end of day team meeting to discuss what happened during the day and how everyone found it.
All members leave around 3:45pm.
Fill out a Referral Form and someone from Restore will contact you.
The Garden Cafe Recovery Group can be found at Garden Café, Manzil Way, Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1YH. All buildings have disabled access.
Our members, staff, and volunteers are responsible for the beautiful planting and maintenance of the Manzil Way Gardens. Throughout the year, everyone is welcome to come and enjoy the gardens.
The Garden is accessible to wheelchair users and/or people with limited mobility. It is also a safe garden for children to play as we very much welcome them to have a first-hand experience of nature.
