Charity joins forces with loved cafe to open new venture

Charity endED and a successful businessman have joined forces to open a social enterprise cafe where eating disorder sufferers can regain their confidence.

endED co-founders Mark and Gay Forbes pictured with eating disorder recovery coach Laura Chamberlain at endEd Espresso's opening event. Picture: Laura Pettigrew.

Coast charity endED and a successful Coast businessman have joined forces to open a social enterprise cafe where eating disorder sufferers can regain their confidence.

Located in Buddina, endEd Espresso will be run by volunteers, many of whom are on their journey to recovery with endED or have supported a family member or friend though an eating disorder.

endEd co-founder Mark Forbes said the cafe was a great addition to the charity's resources and supported sufferers in their recovery.

"With the Wandi Nerida that we built last year that's the place where they first go, as they transition they will come to the endED House of Hope in Woombye and then from that we will help them transition back to community and what better way to do that then here at the endED espresso bar," he said.

"The girls will get confidence, which is important as they have been locked in a room and their own head for so long.

"To be able to come to a safe place and get that confidence and work towards a cert four in hospitality, their world's an oyster from there."

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Mr Forbes said the cafe will open on March 2 with strong "community, connection and compassion" values.

"That is what we want to bring here, people to come with that understanding this is a social enterprise and it's about community, it's about connection and it's about compassion," he said.

All profits from endED Espresso will go towards hiring another lived with experience recovery coach.

"We have three and we need six, so this stands for a lot," Mr Forbes said.

EndEd partnered with The Good Place, who used all their resources to help open the social enterprise.

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The Good Place co-founder James McGovern said he jumped at the opportunity to share his experience with endEd.

"It is awesome," he said.

"Our mantra for our business is 'business with kindness', so it's really cool to manifest that into something like this which is … a place of hope.

"We are ecstatic to be involved and really humbled to be given the opportunity to support and help."

He said The Good Place treated endEd Espresso like one of their own venues.

"We are pretty actively involved in the management … it's a not for profit but it's still got to run as a business and making sure that commercially it works as well, so we will be managing that side of it and supporting them," he said.

"We really want to make sure it succeeds and helps endED to do more of what they do already."

Mr Forbes celebrated the cafe's opening and thanked everyone involved at a "thank you" event at the cafe on Wednesday.

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