The staff at Café Willow at Northgate Park in Morpeth said an emotional goodbye to the latest person who has completed a placement working in the café. Placements are offered to service users at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW).  

The placements are the brainchild of the Occupational Therapy team at Northgate Park and allows people to get experience in different roles on the site. The Facilities Team have offered placements in the portering and café teams and will shortly be extending this to the domestic team as well. 

The latest graduate of the scheme began working just one or two hours restocking the fridge with drinks. They then successfully completed their health and safety and food hygiene training which led to them graduating through the different tasks in the café. Ultimately becoming the chief fish fryer for the very popular fish and chips that are served up in the Café at Northgate on a Friday. 

At a little ceremony to celebrate the end of their placement the café staff had baked cakes and made speeches about how much they had enjoyed having a new colleague work with them.  

Previous people who have completed the placements have gone on to get work in the hospitality industry which is a sign of the success of the scheme. The placements on offer have expanded and now include opportunities at Northumberland Fire Service and Newcastle United Football Club.