It’s 8.30am and the streets of Bankstown, in Sydney’s South West, are bustling with people on their way to work. Anybody with industry experience can tell you the value of this morning rush, particularly in the winter months when customers seek out a warm cup to get them through the morning chill. So it is surprising to find, amongst this morning chaos, a stylish little café with its lights off and a sign on the door that says ‘closed’. Welcome to Peppertree café.

I first heard about Peppertree from Aimen Krayem, NSW Development Manager for Ducale Coffee, who raved about “…this great community café in Bankstown…” and asked me if I’d be interested in donating some time to help with training programs. With my passion for the coffee industry, as well as my involvement in several local youth programs, I saw a great opportunity and jumped at it.

Peppertree Cafe is part of a wider program called the Humanity Project, by the Bankstown Multicultural Youth Service, which aims to deliver first class barista and hospitality training to local youth who are considered ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘disengaged’ with the community. What started as a simple training program rapidly expanded and in 2010 Peppertree Cafe was opened as a way to financially support the project as well as provide ‘real world’ experience to trainees, who were encouraged to volunteer their time to gain experience in the café.

Fast forward to July 2011 and the café sits dormant for all but 3 hours a day, when they open their doors for a handful of customers. Previously, the café had been run by external managers, who did a great job at making Peppertree a profitable business however they didn’t actively work towards the grassroots goals of the Humanity project. Before long, the young people who were part of the project’s training programs became alienated by the ‘business’ side of things – strict rules and micromanagement, to name a few - and attendance rates started to decline. Working with disengaged youth requires a careful balance of structure and flexibility and in failing to achieve this balance, the project basically fell apart.

Many people have tried to mend the Peppertree model, but it is definitely a tough job. Mary Malak, Manager of the Bankstown Multicultural Youth Service (BMYS), says it has been difficult “…trying to find the balance between success [with the café] and meeting the needs of these young people”. But with a little help, all that is going to change.

After countless meetings and brainstorming sessions with Mary and Sarkis Achmar, also from BMYS, the new future of Peppertree Café is a bright one. The ultimate goal of the project is to be completely self sufficient (at present, the café is reliant upon what little remains of a 2010 Federal Jobs Fund Grant) with all café profits going towards barista and hospitality training programs for local youth. For this to become a reality, we are currently ‘recruiting’ a dedicated group of local youth to essentially run the café, in partnership with youth workers from BMYS. They will be taught the basics of café management, how to converse with customers and, of course, how to be great baristas. Once this process is underway, work will begin on the promotion of Peppertree café and the Humanity Project.

We have decided to re-launch the café on October 21, with the aim of establishing Peppertree as a reputable café in South West Sydney. I have thrown a lot of resources and time into getting this project up and running again and it is exciting to see just how much support individuals and companies are willing to give; Bunnings Bankstown, Holroyd lighting, Hoyts Corporation and Veus electrical have all contributed, ‘Rush’ actor Rodger Corser has signed on as an ambassador, whilst Di Bella Coffee is the ongoing coffee sponsor for the café, offering beans and equipment free-of-charge for the duration of the project.

It has been truly inspiring to see just how generous people can be, and their ongoing support will be incredibly beneficial considering this entire project is run without funding, and by volunteers! Of course, we still have a long way to go, and we are always grateful for any assistance we are offered. This is an exciting time for Peppertree and I for one can’t wait to see what the future has in store…

Written by Alex Stathis

For more information, or to help out visit the Facebook page: ‘Humanity Project Peppertree Café’ or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it