Employees With Disability Set to Soar: Brewing Up Fresh Opportunities at Brisbane Airport

Never underestimate the life-changing power of getting a job. 
 
10 staff with a disability have found employment at Boronia Brew, a new Brisbane Airport café which officially opened today. 
 
Operated by HELP Enterprises, the social enterprise is providing training for supported workers, with hopes some will go on to find employment at businesses across the rapidly expanding Brisbane Airport precinct. 
 
The coffee shop is one of Brisbane Airport’s largest, located in the Da Vinci aviation training precinct filled with people upgrading their skills at Aviation Australia, Qantas, Virgin Australia, LifeFlight Training Academy, QUT and Cabin Services Australia.

"This social enterprise partnership is one of many ways that Brisbane Airport Corporation gives back to the Brisbane community, and we’re excited to see where this new venture takes us all," according to Denver Fresser, CEO of HELP.  
 
"HELP Enterprises is on a mission to make the world a more inclusive place and thanks to Brisbane Airport Corporation, we’re getting one big step closer to doing just that." 
 
Brisbane Airport Corporation invited HELP to fill a hospitality void in the southern airport precinct. 
 
"We were really looking for an operator with heart to bring great coffee and great food to our training precinct to build our airport community, and we are incredibly happy to work with HELP to provide opportunities for supported workers," according to Gert-Jan de Graaff, CEO of Brisbane Airport Corporation. 
 
Every day 24,000 people come to work across the Brisbane Airport precinct, with that number expected to grow by 10,000 by the time the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games begin. 
 
"If this café can help train some of the future employees who go on to work in hospitality across Brisbane Airport, we will be delighted," says Gert-Jan de Graaff. 
 
 32-year-old Kevin Ludwick is working at Boronia Brew as a barista and is grateful for how the job has developed his skills.

"It's probably my happiest time ever. I’m actually so happy to be working in hospitality. I’m doing what I love to do."

About HELP Enterprises 

• HELP is a Social Enterprise, committed to enhancing the lifestyle, independence, and ambitions of people with disability.  
• For more than 50 years, HELP has grown from a single workshop to a network of over 60 sites stretching right across Southeast Queensland and beyond.  
• HELP is now one of the state’s leading providers of disability care and employment services. 
• Its mission is to support and empower people with disability so that they can live their best life, unrestricted and encouraged to achieve anything they set their mind to. 

Boronia Brew is located at 20 Boronia Road, Brisbane Airport in the Da Vinci precinct.

Employees With Disability Set to Soar: Brewing Up Fresh Opportunities at Brisbane Airport

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