Staff outside Ratha’s Place, which serves up everything from coffee to big breakfasts. Photo: Supplied.
The idea for Oak Flats cafe Ratha’s Place began after a family holiday in Cambodia and now, six years after opening its doors, it’s dedicated to giving back to its own community.
Described as “a lot more than smashed avo and a latte”, it’s part of the charity Help2Help offering training and employment opportunities to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Barrington Group Australia head of people and culture Ashlea Harper, which is the foundation sponsor for the charity, said it had now grown to the point where last term it partnered with Oak Flats Public School to provide meal packs as a way to give back.
“We’re at a point where we’re stable, we’re well established and we wanted to give back to the local community,” Ashlea said.
“The school identified families that might want to be involved in the program, and we provide dinner for that family once a week, and we provide lunch packs for however many school age children they have as well.
“Our main aim is we’re giving back to the local community that supported us.”
Ashlea said Help2Help and the idea for the cafe started after Blayne and Faye Webb’s family holiday to Cambodia in 2011.
Upon identifying Cambodian families in dire poverty, subject to child trafficking, and a lack of education and health services, they were moved to take action.
Among them was a young boy with cerebral palsy, Ratha, who was in need of urgent medical attention.
“So that’s how it started. It was then supporting him to get to school because he was very clever and wanted to be at school but just couldn’t physically get there,” she said.
“They then opened a hospitality school over there, teaching English and teaching hospitality skills.”
She said the skills training facility and restaurant in rural Cambodia provided assistance with education and health care and, by 2017, had achieved its goals and was able to be under the control of the Cambodian people.
“They came back here, and it was asked, ‘What can we do here to help?’” she said.
“Supporting people with a disability seemed to be where the biggest need was at the time, so they opened a cafe in Oak Flats and a cafe in St Mary’s in Sydney.”
She said while the Sydney cafe struggled through COVID, Oak Flats had thrived and naming it after Ratha had been a fitting choice after seeing him rise above significant challenges over the years.
“Everything goes back into the charity,” she said.
“Oak Flats opened six years ago and it’s never been as strong as it is at the moment. It’s doing really well.”
She said a Help2Help skills program in the building next door also readied participants for mainstream employment and taught not just work skills, but also life skills.
“A lot of them will come in and go, ‘I don’t know how to budget at home’ or ‘I want to move out, but I don’t know how,’” she said.
“Transportation seems to be a big one that we’re focusing on at the moment – ‘I don’t know how to catch a bus’ or ‘how to catch a train.’”
Ashlea said cooking was also popular, which worked in tandem with the cafe, providing skills and then a pathway to employment.
She said from the cafe, the goal was for staff to move on to mainstream employment, with many success stories over the years.
“It’s sad at the time, because we don’t want them to go anywhere, but that’s the whole goal,” she said.
“You’re so proud of them when they get to that point as well.”
She said the cafe had built a loyal customer base, despite being in a stretch of Oak Flats already heavily serviced by cafes.
“We do have our regulars, which are very good supporters, and we wouldn’t be there without the community,” she said.
“We’re providing a good quality product as well because it’s an operating cafe, so you can’t just be relying on them coming in and seeing us for the sake of seeing us.”
Ashlea said food ranged from sweet and savoury items in the cabinet, weekly specials, and then a menu of nachos, burgers and breakfast items like bacon and egg rolls and big breakfasts.
She said all staff were given tasks dependent on their abilities and were provided with visual and written instructions for their station.
“We try and work to their strengths as much as possible, and also their confidence levels as well,” she said.
To assist them further, donations received had allowed them this month to purchase a seven-seater vehicle to visit other locations in the area.
Ratha’s Place is located at 84 Central Ave, Oak Flats and you can learn more on its website.
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