Luci: Sharing my passion as a vegan baker

6th February 2023

Luci is known as the vegan chef at Lily&Lime, as she’s constantly coming up with exciting new recipe ideas for vegan customers. Having been vegan herself for many years, Luci loves sharing her passion with the rest of the café. Recently, she’s started managing Lily&Lime’s café in Lalys pharmacy on her own, helping her towards living more independently.

When we spoke to Luci, she told us: ‘I enjoy the apprenticeship programme because it gives me more opportunities to work and get out in the world. It’s nice to work with other people with learning disabilities like me. It’s a very nice, relatable environment. I’ve also been enjoying the fact that I can bring my own recipes as a vegan to the café’.

Luci is on Minstead Trust’s supported apprenticeship programme, one of our work and training programmes for people with learning disabilities, autism and other additional needs. The apprenticeship programme, delivered in partnership with Smart Training and Recruitment, takes on a blended learning approach of in-person and virtual learning. Our apprentices take on paid roles and learn a combination of customer service and functional skills over a period of 12 to 18 months.

Watch Luci’s video outlining her passion for vegan baking and why she loves working at Lily&Lime: Luci: Vegan Baker | National Apprenticeship week 2023 – YouTube

You can find out about some of our other apprentices here: Apprenticeship stories | Minstead Trust