Restaurant chain partners with local charity to offer work experience for autistic students

Restaurant chain, Gusto, has partnered with Inscape House School in Cheadle, run by Stockport’s Together Trust, to offer 8-week work experience opportunities to autistic students.

Following successful job interviews last month, six students have been able to participate in two-hour sessions in a real-life working environment, gaining hospitality sector experience in both front and back-of-house settings.

Mikey Rice, Training Manager at Gusto, shared that he was overwhelmed by the students and their capabilities. In addition, he even revealed that he would genuinely have offered permanent jobs to a couple of the students based on their performance. Mikey, who has a learning difficulty himself, shared that it is valuable for him to prove to the students from Inscape House School what they are all capable of with the right support.

Staff at Gusto in Cheadle Hulme and Didsbury volunteered their spare time to run the training, offering the autistic students the chance to practice bar preparation, mocktail making, setting tables, making pizza and taking orders.

One of the staff members working closely with the students is the 19-year-old bartender Olly. Olly has ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome and is among the just 21.7% of autistic people in the UK who are in employment.

Although he didn’t bring up being autistic at first, the team at Gusto made him feel accepted and didn’t mind his introverted, quiet and very literal personality. Within this environment, Olly felt safe to open up to one of his colleagues. Following a conversation about Olly’s preferences, he was given a role behind the bar on a permanent basis, and the restaurant team worked with him on strategies to help him flourish in the role.