Hands-on training and fresh warm scones created a win-win situation at Wedge Gardens Treatment Centre recently.

The Rand Aid Association-run rehabilitation centre’s occupational therapist Zainab Badat decided to start a Wedge café every second Friday. The idea behind the initiative was to identify some of the Wedge patients in need of vocational training and create a fun, interactive platform for this.

One group marketed and took orders for tea and scones. The next group baked the scones and then served café’s customers, which included fellow residents, staff members and residents of nearby Thembalami care centre, which is also Rand Aid run and caters for vulnerable senior citizens.

“There was a manager who was in charge overall, which helped impart management skills,” says Wedge Garden’s manager Adèl Grobbelaar, adding that the menu will change every second week.

Thembalami Care Centre’s manager Elize Raath says that being invited to Wedge Gardens for tea was uplifting to her residents. “They all came back in high spirits,” she says, adding that the outing included those residents who seldom leave the premises. “It was a real treat for them.”