We operate six social enterprises in Lisburn and Newtownards. Each business serves as a realistic training platform for people with a learning disability, Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia or a learning difficulty.
Our social enterprises include three cafes, a guild commended picture framing business, a bespoke wedding stationery business and a new horticulture and wellbeing hub at Navigation House. All profits are reinvested to support our work.
We love what we do and hope you do too #buysocial #purpose #social impact.
The Gatelodge is part financed by the European Social Fund and the Department for the Economy.
The Gatelodge Café in Newtownards opened its doors in February 2016. Just like our other social enterprise cafes, the aim of The Gatelodge Cafe is to provide a realistic training platform for people with a learning disability and learning difficulty in catering and hospitality.
Our trainees are trained by a team of award winning catering and hospitality staff who have refined their skills in the hospitality and hotel industry and are now passionate about passing these skills on to our trainees. Our staff support our trainees to develop new skills with many of them completing NVQs.
Trainees are also supported by our job coaches and employment officers who provide tailored support to gain work placements and paid employment. The Gatelodge Cafe is part funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014 – 2010 and the Department for the Economy.
The cafe is housed in a historic gatelodge building, located at the main entrance to Ards Community Hospital, it has been tastefully renovated to incorporate a bright and airy modern extension.
All our food is freshly made each day and we are known for our delicious home-style bakes with our sausage rolls a bit of a talking point!
When you visit us you will be greeted by our trainees who will bring you a menu and take your order. We are sure you will agree that the food and drinks that they have helped to prepare and serve to you are delicious.
Each trainee that you meet is there because they are interested in gaining training and employment in the catering and hospitality industry. By choosing the Gatelodge Café for breakfast, lunch or treat you are also choosing to support their development.
Every penny of your money is reinvested to pay for the continuation of this social enterprise and its impact to people with a learning disability and their families in Newtownards.
We love what we do and we hope you do too.
Cafe enquiries:
We have operated a coffee shop from our head office site on Seymour Street in Lisburn since 1998. We are grateful to our loyal stream of customers that keep returning to us week after week, year after year.
In September 2016 we decided to give our coffee shop a new name and with the vote out to our customers the Courtyard Café was born.
At the Courtyard Cafe you can enjoy a delicious home-style cooked breakfast, lunch or treat in the comfort and charm of our converted barn café. On sunny days our courtyard is filled with customers enjoying food and drink in the sun.
Our customers call it a ‘hidden gem’ as we are tucked away from the high street through an arched walkway at the entrance to Lisburn City Centre, 2 mins walk from Wallace Park. You will experience a relaxed and comforting atmosphere with a warm welcome from our trainees and staff.
Of course, everything that we do is about our trainees. The Courtyard Café just like all our other café’s serves as a realistic training platform for the people at the heart of what we do – our trainees who have learning disabilities and learning difficulties.
We are sure that you will be impressed by the level of service and standard of food and drink that they deliver. Each trainee, is there because they want to gain realistic experience in catering and hospitality. You will meet quite a few that are undergoing their ONC qualifications too.
All of our customers money is put straight back into supporting our work at Stepping Stones NI. We appreciate all of our customer’s support as your support means we can make a real and lasting change to our trainees.
Cafe enquiries:
Our bespoke wedding stationery business, Pink Elephant Cards, has been creating beautifully handcrafted wedding stationery for brides and grooms across Northern Ireland since 2003.
Our customers are drawn to the quality and uniqueness of our products and they love the fact that 100% of their money is reinvested to support our work at Stepping Stones NI.
Each piece of wedding stationery is handmade by our trainees who are overseen by our team of skilled designers. Our trainees enjoy producing wedding invites, tables plans, order of service, rsvp’s etc for our customers big day. They create each piece with pride, precision and attention to detail.
Our customer consultation room is located at our head office on Seymour Street, Lisburn with displays of our work for customers to gain ideas from.
All our designs are bespoke and made to each of our customer’s specific specification. We can create any design for your special occasion with hand drawn, lazer-cut, diamante and quirky currently on trend.
Make an impact with a Pink Elephant invite.
Wedding stationery enquiries:
Navigation House is a horticulture and wellbeing hub for people with learning disabilities and barriers to learning and employment.
The house was built in 1866 as the residence of the manager of the Lagan Canal and remained in that use till the last superintendent of the canal left in 1954.
Navigation House offers a host of horticultural and wellbeing activities and programmes for people with learning disabilities and barriers to learning and employment with a range of workshops also open to the public.
The venue is also available for room hire and entire site booking with catering available. Click here to view our brochure.
2nd Avenue opened its doors in December 2019. The newest edition to our social enterprise family, the cafe in located in Lisburn City Centre on Antrim Street, directly behind Bow Street Mall.
The cafe has been named by a trainee from our much loved ‘The Avenue’ cafe which has been serving up breakfast, lunch and treats to a regular and loyal customer base for the past 11 years. We decided to close ‘The Avenue’on Wallace Avenue so that we could bring a new cafe to Lisburn City Centre within a fresh and modern space to enjoy a new range of artisan coffee and food.
The 2nd Avenue team share a love and passion for cooking. Our trainees work under this team to develop catering and hospitality skills to NVQ level. As with all of our social enterprises, 100% of our customers money is reinvested to support our work.
We are located just a 2 min stroll from Lisburn train station facing Antrim Street car park.
Visit us for a whole new range of delicious food and drinks. We cater for all dietary requirements and can serve up tasty meals for the little ones too. Room hire and catering is also available at 2nd Avenue for meetings and events ( max capacity 12 people).
#buysocial
Cafe enquiries:
We have been framing our customers special pieces for 15 years. We are a member of The Fine Art Trade Guild and every piece is created to the highest standard by our expert framers and trainees.
We stock a wide range of frames and mounts and have framed everything from medals, ballet shoes, sports memorabilia, mini collection cars, lego, specialist art and family photographs.
Our team will advise on style to showcase and preserve your special piece. 100% of your money is reinvested to support our work.
Our trainees particularly enjoy the precision and attention to detail of this work. All finished frames go through a thorough quality control checking process by our master framers to ensure that your frame is produced to the highest standard.
Contact us about framing your special piece. Your custom supports our work. #buysocial
Framing enquiries:
Stepping Stones NI has achieved the following quality awards:
Stepping Stones NI has been funded by the UK Government through the Levelling Up fund and the Prosper programme 2023-2025. Stepping Stones NI is registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC100727.
