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Jacqui has been working at Bedford for 11 years, and has deep experience in Hospitality. Recently, she had the opportunity to use the skills she’s learnt working in the café at Bedford’s Panorama site to help at Cultivate’s Commercial Bakery at Lobethal.

Over a two week period at the bakery, Jacqui undertook a range of tasks including icing Melting Moments, packaging Christmas cakes and jam tarts, and boxing up the Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Jacqui told us that she really enjoyed the experience of working in a commercial bakery, and that she was one of four employees from Bedford who had made the trip up the hill to work. "The people there were nice, and they loved the work we did. The work was fun and it was a really nice drive up there!"

She also really enjoyed getting out of routine and doing a different type of work, and experiencing a different environment.

We asked Jacqui what her favourite Emmaline's food is, and she said that she loved the Choc Chip Cookies - for a very specific reason; "There's heaps of chocolate in them!"

Looking to the future Jacqui tells us that she wants to be involved in open employment, either with Bedford or in the open market. "I’d love to continue working in hospitality, in a cafe or possibly in retail."

The work was fun and it was a really nice drive up there!

Bedford Group is committed to creating choice and opportunity through open employment pathways. Bedford Social Enterprises was established in response to the lack of meaningful job opportunities for people with disability in the open market, and have developed three purpose-driven social enterprises in different trade areas;

  • Cultivate produces high quality retail food products and offers contract food manufacturing services.
  • GreenInc is a landscape construction business, building and maintaining medium and large-scale community spaces.
  • Dovetail operates in the advanced manufacturing sector, creating flat-pack furniture panels, and an innovative line of sustainable timber products.

Find out more about the Social Impact Cultivate is having here.

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