Guests from Woodbine Inc. joined the RNH team this morning for an official hand over of the YarriYak Cafe.
Opened on February 17, 2016 by then-RNH CEO Catherine Morley and then-Woodbine CEO Bernie O’Connor, the cafe has gone from strength to strength over the past 8 years, offering people with disabilities an opportunity to learn skills including customer service, cash handling, barista skills, and food handling.
Named by Karen O’Connor as part of a competition, the Yarri part of the cafe name came about as we’re located in the Yarriambiack region and many things are named “Yarri”, while the Yak segment is an homage to people coming for a coffee and “having a yak”.
RNH took over management of the cafe on April 30.
RNH CEO Jenni Masters spoke at the hand over, commenting that RNH had intended to expand the cafe pre-Covid, however, that put a stall on things.
“We will continue to grow the cafe going forward and will continue looking at ways we can provide opportunities for people with disabilities in our community,” she said.
Woodbine CEO Jason Minter thanked former cafe manager Geoff Ward for his work in growing and developing the cafe and commented that the handover to RNH is simply the “next evolution” for the cafe.
YarriYak Cafe serves tasty, dietitian approved food and drink, and is open Monday-Friday 8.30am-3pm.