Having previously enjoyed working long hours at O’Connors in Echuca as a manager, he found the change to being idle difficult to accept.
“I was just going half-crazy at home,” Phil said.
Around that time, Phil’s carer, Narelle Woodgate, was looking for a peaceful venue for independent support workers to bring their clients to.
Coincidentally, Kennaugh’s Garden Centre, owned by Phil’s brother Gavan, had a cafe space which had sat vacant since the COVID-19 shutdown.
It was Phil’s idea to revive the space for Ms Woodgate’s clients, which she took to keenly.
“I got into the front door, and I was about to push her in. I don’t know how she did it, but she walked around the back and pushed me in,” Phil said.
Since then, Phil has learnt a raft of new skills for the business, Coffee @ Kennaugh’s, including coffee making, food handling, and baking.
Ms Woodgate helped to spark Phil’s enjoyment of baking when she introduced cooking and slice making into their time together.
The cafe is set into the garden centre’s indoor space, which is complete with greenery and outdoor furniture beneath a high ceiling.
“We were looking for somewhere to go that’s quiet for people just to sit down, have a talk with the participants, and make them feel comfortable,” Ms Woodgate said.
“It’s very inclusive down here. Everyone’s involved, which is really good.”
Since opening, support participant Nicole Deakin has joined the team two days per week, and the cafe has already attracted a crowd of regulars.
The garden centre employs two separate care participants who assist with caring for plants and cleaning the facility.
Bonnie Verrall of Candid Care is also heavily involved with the cafe, and jumped at the opportunity to help get it off the ground.
“Narelle said, ‘we’re going to go ahead and open the cafe’ ... and we came along for the ride,” she said.
“It is just such a calming environment, being in nature.”
For Phil, being out of the house and working five days per week ― or six, if he can find an excuse ― has brought him great joy.
“I’m coming in, working, meeting different people because different people come through the door every day,” he said.
“It’s just a matter of ticking along and getting the word out there that we’re here.”
The cafe will host a Pink Ribbon Morning Tea on Thursday, October 30 from 10am to 12pm, supporting the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Kennaugh’s Garden Centre is also running a coffee bean guessing competition, inviting customers to leave a donation for the foundation to enter for a chance to win a $50 gift voucher.
14°C