A BARRHEAD café is serving up a boost for people with additional support needs.

The Greenhouse Community Café was established by Steven Jacobs to help those who can find themselves on the fringes of society play a bigger role in the community and mix with other people.

Since being set up in 2016, it has expanded across East Renfrewshire, with hubs in Barrhead Health Centre, Eastwood Health and Care Centre, Eastwood Park and, most recently, the Barrhead Foundry.

Café manager Chris Wilson said working at Greenhouse is like being “part of a family.”

He told the Barrhead News: “This is our fifth café. The first one we opened was at Eastwood Health and Care Centre.

“The whole concept is that the Greenhouse Café just keeps on growing.

“Steven had a vision of bridging the gap for young adults with additional support needs who have just finished school and don’t have much direction as to where they can go.

“As a social enterprise, we bring in young adults who have support needs and who find that a stereotypical nine-to-five job wouldn’t be right for them.

“We try to fill that gap.”

A number of young people have benefited from being nurtured by the Greenhouse team over the past three years.

Chris added: “Two of our success stories are Marc and Jonathan. We took them on as trainees and put them through a 12-week training programme to build up the likes of their people skills – all the areas in which they tended to struggle because they had almost been neglected.

“We’ve also got older adults at the café.

“We have a few people who have Down’s syndrome and they really thrive in this type of environment. They are great with their communication skills and they love interacting with everyone.

“It is so nice to be a part a family and you don’t feel like just another number.

“This is my first opportunity of managing a site and I love that we are all a team and working together.”