Cardiff cafe staffed by autistic people fears closure

Director Selena Caemawr set up Aubergine Cafe after struggling to find a job that was inclusive of their needs

A cafe ran by autistic people could be closed by new year due to an unresolved rent dispute.

In WhatsApp messages seen by BBC Wales, Cardiff's Aubergine Cafe was told its rent could increase from £800 to £1,200 per month when the tenancy renewed at the end of the year.

Following attempts to negotiate, the cafe's ability to renew the lease hangs in the balance.

The landlord said they did not want to comment.

After the director of the cafe, Selena Caemawr, attempted to negotiate the rent price, they were told the landlord no longer wanted to renew the tenancy.

However, following a community rally and an Instagram campaign, the landlord reversed their decision, but the cafe is yet to receive a renewal agreement from the landlord but will have to close by the new year if it is unable to renew.

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Selena set up the cafe after facing difficulties in various jobs, often finding themselves put on extended probationary periods because they struggled to keep up with time-dependent and admin tasks.

They said: "I knew I could do my job if I was supported properly. But nobody would listen to me when I told them what sort of support I needed. It's like they didn't believe me.

"I remember writing a post on Facebook where I said that the problem with being autistic and in the workplace is that everyone else isn't autistic. And if they were just everything would just work better."

From there, a spark was born for Aubergine Cafe - it started as a pop-up business and then moved to its current home in Riverside in 2019.

It is run entirely by neurodiverse people and has an almost-silent coffee machine, adjustable lighting and staff organise cutlery outside of opening hours as autistic people sometimes struggle with sensory overload.

Aubergine Cafe opened all day on Christmas 2021 for people who had nowhere to go

As well as working to support autistic people into full-time professional employment, Aubergine Café commissions freelance neurodivergent artists to host workshops.

Selena said: "It's really important for us to give people proper steps into professional employment, not just volunteering opportunities.

"We want to be the role models we never got to see for ourselves."

Sarah Smart was directed to Aubergine Cafe by a supporting employment organisation

Sarah Smart, 24, who has a learning disability, works at Aubergine Cafe three days a week, learning about all aspects of the job.

If the cafe closes, Sarah's ability to work is at risk: "I know they'd find another premises, but I'd have to re-learn how to get to that place in Cardiff which would be difficult for me.

"People in the area wouldn't have the cafe local to them anymore and this would have a big impact on our community."

Another user of the café, who asked to remain anonymous, said the Aubergine Cafe "made me feel like Cardiff has a place for me" through the way it celebrates queerness and neurodivergence.

"It's quite hard out there for us" - Roz Moreton

Roz Moreton, 57, discovered the cafe through her work with Disability Arts Cymru, said it was a special and vital place.

"We need more safe places not just for people to go to but for people to work at," said Ms Moreton.

Disability Arts Cymru is working with Aubergine Café on its Creativity is Mistakes project which works to connect with disabled artists and showcase their work.

Ms Moreton said: "It's really important that we support each other because it's quite hard out there for us."

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