By MARLENE MILLOTT
UNEMPLOYED youth will have the chance to gain valuable barista and hospitality skills thanks to the new Koffee Kids program at Healesville Learning and Living Centre.
The Koffee Kids Barista Training and Employment for Youth Project will allow young people aged 15-25 to learn how to make barista coffee using a mobile coffee cart.
The project, which will launch next month, aims to help young people develop skills to make them more employable.
As part of the coffee course, participants will receive a certificate on completion and a reference for job applications.
The centre has recently received a Cadbury Fund-raiser Community Grant in addition to an Australia Post Neighbourhood Grant and funding from Yarra Ranges Council.
As a result, Koffee Kids will be one of the first skills-to-work programs by the centre’s new Youth Hub which provides assistance and support to young people.
Healesville Living and Learning Centre’s CEO Karen Kisala says the program is “absolutely vital” to tackling high levels of youth unemployment in the area.
“Young people have few opportunities for education and employment,” she said.
“We hope to leverage our large local hospitality and tourism industry to create opportunities for the youth we train in the art of coffee.”
Ms Kisala said that the centre had connections with small businesses in the area that were keen to employ young people with barista skills.
Young people who would like to apply for the Koffee Kids Barista Training should contact the Healesville Living and Learning Centre with an expression of interest.
