A LEARNING disability charity targeted twice by burglars earlier this year is celebrating after winning an £840 grant to help its members earn catering qualifications.

The Open Door has been awarded the cash by the Gannett Foundation, set up by the Advertiser’s parent company to help communities.

It means members working in the Friday Café will be able to learn new skills and be equipped with training equipment, aprons and hats.

Deputy manager Pat Winning said: “It’s fantastic news. It will help an awful lot more people to become involved.”

The café was started 18 months ago and so far 37 members of the group have been awarded AQA qualifications in food and service.

Pat explained the project was important because it gave the members confidence that might lead them to volunteer elsewhere or, in some cases, could help them with employment.

It was also a good way of socialising and showing members of the public that there was nothing to fear from people with learning disabilities.

Each Friday members of the Open Door turn the base at St Barnabas Church Hall, Ferndale Road into a fully functioning café where the public can enjoy a tasty treat or a light lunch with their tea and coffee.

“It usually takes about £50 which helps to keep us going,” said Pat. “Some weeks it makes a lot more. We have wonderful cakes and fantastic scones. I know they are fantastic because my husband bakes them.”

The Open Door provides activities for adults with learning difficulties from practical training like money recognition to sport, trips and holidays.

It started the café as a way of giving them further life skills and already it is proving a success even though it is only open for three hours a week at the moment.

The aim is to train 30 more people in the next year and there are plans to expand the service in the longer term so it can be run from a permanent base of its own and improve employment opportunities for the members.

Workbooks, DVDs, AQA registration, aprons and hats will all be bought using the grant.

Back in August the charity had £2,000 stolen from its offices. The money belonged to members who were using it to pay for transport and save for trips. It suffered another burglary two months ago.

Dozens of awards were made around the country by the Gannett Foundation including £5,000 to Meningitis Now in Gloucestershire and Base 33 Youth Charity in Oxfordshire. Money has also gone to provide starter kits for rough sleepers, a new pony for disabled riders and gardening tools for a horticultural project.