More than just delicious cupcakes, Baked By Us also support young people with disabilities to gain real work experience and cafe skills.
When we talk about the heart and soul of a local business, no one has more of those two things than Baked By Us – a local cupcakery in central Geelong.
Led by the expertise and infectious personality of owner and professional baker Jess Robinson, Baked By Us offers an opportunity for young people with disabilities to learn how to professionally make cupcakes, develop kitchen skills, learn how to make coffee and serve customers, deliver orders around the community, and most importantly work as part of a team.
Keep up with the latest food and booze news across the region here.
View this post on Instagram
Housed inside a bright, pink space, Baked By Us has become a real favourite for those seeking a sugar hit or delicious gift since opening its doors more than three years ago, with the cupcakery’s main goal being to bring the people they support a greater sense of purpose, belonging and sense of community that they may not find elsewhere. As a learning and training cafe, Baked By Us want to help bridge the gap for some of the %93 of unemployed people with disabilities to lead into mainstream or supported employment.
It’s an amazing business, and the cupcakes are world-class. Colourful, sweet and beautifully decorated, this is a place you can rely on for a range of delicious, ever-changing flavours offered at a low price point. A quick glance at the menu and you’ll find flavours like lemon curd, rainbow, triple chocolate, ice cream sundae, unicorn fairy bread, caramel and so much more.
With nothing else like it within the community, the beloved business has now launched a Go Fund Me after months of struggling to stay afloat due to rising costs and a decline in sales due to inflation and roadworks that saw the major loss of customer parking and decline in foot traffic.
“Baked by Us was built 3.5 years ago from the ground up with no financial assistance or loans. We have always done everything ourselves from all the renovations to building our website,” the Go Fund Me explains. “The downside to this is during tough times we have only ever had our savings to fall back on.
“Like many other businesses, the COVID-19 lockdowns took almost everything from us financially and it’s felt like at times impossible to recover. During the lockdowns when we had no income we still had staff wages, rent and bills to cover. All these costs came from our savings.
“Since ending the rising costs and decline in sales due to inflation and roadworks have meant all of the current bills are just barely being covered. Which unfortunately means we haven’t been able to rebuild our savings for things like repairs or plans or plan towards the future and expansion of the businesses.”
View this post on Instagram
As an independent business, Baked By Us has been unable to receive Government support due to the business being unable “to structure the business in a way needed to be eligible to apply for these. One day we would like to move towards this set-up.”
“We want to break out of survival mode with this money so we can put the time and effort into expanding and growing our business!”
With a goal of raising $250,000, Baked By Us have detailed in the Go Fund Me exactly where the money is needed, breaking down the costs and being transparent about where the money will go. Such costs include cars for delivers and community access, upgrades and repairs on essential kitchen equipment, building a functional website and internal running system, a market set up, packaging and shipping equipment, new signage, and lastly, a relocation cost and cafe set up.
“This is probably the biggest want and need and even though we know it won’t happen overnight as we are still bound by our current lease,” the Go Fund Me state in reference to the relocation.
“But we are DESPERATE to move for a few reasons. The first is cheaper rent we currently paying $3500 per month and it’s just too much! Number two is we outgrew our kitchen a long time ago and need a bigger more functional space. The third reason is we want a cafe where our community come for coffee and sit down! We would love to be a kid friendly cafe! This would mean we could provide so teach so many more workplace skills and offer a better overall experience for our customers and especially our participants!”
At time of writing, the Go Fund Me has already raised $3,045 from 70 donations, many coming from the supportive local community.
View this post on Instagram
“We know this is a high goal. But this goal isn’t just to keep us afloat. This amount would allow us to reinvest in our Baked by Us to look towards the future and help us grow in a way that will open up more positions to take on and train more participants!
“Our mission has and always will be to create a space in which those with a disability, who have been shut out of mainstream employment due to lack of “experience or skills” can come experience the same learning opportunities as everyone else!
“We hope to bring those people a sense belonging and community that they may we may not find elsewhere.”
If you have the capacity and would like to donate, head here.Â
