Sylo Café baristas Breanna Collins and Zeca Buarque with CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes social enterprise manager Toni Hanns (right) at the café’s first day of opening. Sylo’s opening hours are Wednesday to Friday 7am to 3pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 7am to midday.
Espresso aromas are now filling the refurbished Sylo building after the first customers were welcomed through its doors last Wednesday.
It looks like 23-25 Rankin Street is fast becoming the new go to address as CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes’ third social enterprise is fast making a name for its awesome coffee and delectable food.
The purpose of this social enterprise is to have a real and positive impact for individuals and the community as a whole, as it serves quality food and beverages.
It will have a focus of employing local people who have not had access to work or training opportunities previously and every dollar spent at Sylo will be used to create jobs or address social issues in the community.
Similar CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes initiatives, including Cooee for Coffee Wilcannia and Cooee for Coffee Bourke, have helped recruits turn their lives around.
“Sylo Café continues our innovative work to deliver awesome coffee with an awesome story,” said CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes chief executive officer Anne-Marie Mioche.
Western NSW has high levels of disadvantage and often lacks job opportunities, which is why CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes has established the Cooee social enterprises.
“We might start with someone who doesn’t have a resume, has no work experience, and they can move quite quickly to being able to work in the hospitality industry, or also being able to get a job with us in our social services,” Marie said.
Sylo’s opening is the result of months of work, including giving a building that had been unused for some years an extensive makeover.
“We are thrilled to make this amazing space in the centre of Forbes the home of our third Cooee social enterprise.”
Maries said: “We have a great team and they are excited to be opening the doors to the public.
“The menu is all about fresh and delicious food and the Sylo space has a great vibe.”