Hidden in the quiet gardens of a Methodist church in suburban south Manchester, the Edge Theatre is an unassuming community hub. But on a Thursday afternoon this one-time Red Cross hospital is bustling with activity. Its cafe, the Dressing Room – a training centre for Mancunians with learning disabilities and OFM’s 2018 Local Food Hero – is busy with new mums, middle-aged couples, artists between group-working sessions and young people awaiting a dance class. Two studios are being hastily rearranged as lessons in everything from acting to tap dancing roll on through the week. “Let me just check there are no nude models in here,” cautions CEO and artistic director Janine Waters, as we interrupt a group of local artists packing away.
With husband Dominic Waters and brother-in-law Simon Waters, the Edge’s manager and musical director respectively, Janine has been active in participatory theatre for years – working, writing and performing with amateur players, often from marginalised groups such as the homeless. Opened in 2011, the Edge grew out of that ethos. This registered charity is a venue for national touring productions, creates its own community and professional shows and, broadly, works to enhance the lives of local people. Waters’ enthusiastic rationale for all this is that the opportunity to participate in creative activity should be “a basic human right. Ideally, there would be arts on prescription. Half the people going to their GP just need the things that art gives you: somewhere to belong, a sense of achievement, a shared purpose.”
In time, this work has expanded beyond the arts. Opened in 2015, the Dressing Room cafe provides bespoke programmes for 10 trainees every 12 weeks; working with autistic, Down’s syndrome and learning disabled people referred by partner agencies.
One of its trainees, 18-year-old Thomas Reynolds, came to the cafe to bolster his confidence among strangers before starting college (he has also learned how to make a knockout flat white). “It’s been a big step for me,” he says. “It’s definitely boosted my social skills.”
Initially, Janine imagined that other graduates would find jobs in hospitality. But such opportunities are vanishingly rare (a mere 6% of people with learning disabilities are in paid employment). She still pushes for openings – learning disabled candidates can excel in certain kitchen and front-of-house roles – but now sees a different value in the training: “If we only took people who can work independently and go straight into employment, we’d turn down 80% of people who come here. We realised that, actually, a lot of the training is about developing independent-living skills, in personal hygiene or using an oven, which, now that people with learning disabilities are beginning to outlive their parents, is in many ways more important.”
Lezley Carlile, the mother of 31-year-old Jane Edwards, says the Edge is “invaluable” in the help it has given her daughter who, with minimal support, lives independently with her husband: “For Jane, the training wasn’t aimed at employability, it was about life skills: cooking, food preparation, shopping and healthy living.”
The Dressing Room’s learning mentor, Emily Potter, assigns suitable kitchen or service roles to each trainee and shadows them for their weekly two-hours. Their needs vary hugely. Some work on practical skills, such as handling money. Others have specific issues around, say, noise or fears of hot water, which they may seek to overcome. For some trainees, it is about cultivating self-respect: “They might not have support at home and may be a little bit neglected. It’s teaching people to look after themselves, and, because some people have never been complimented, telling them how amazing they’ve done. It’s so rewarding to see the faces that have never heard that before.”
Heart-warming as that is, Janine and chef-manager Jim Turner are adamant that the Dressing Room must also compete on food quality. The menu is simple: jazzy, post-Ottolenghi salads, quiches, soups, sandwiches and cake (banana bread is a bestseller), but executed with care. “I’m a bit of a perfectionist,” smiles Turner.
Were this solely a worthy social initiative, says Waters, “You’d come once and feel good about yourself but you probably wouldn’t return. You don’t come in here and go, ‘I’m in the middle of training.’ You get really nice food, served well.”
“The food’s gorgeous and the cafe has a lovely, buzzy atmosphere,” emails ex-Coronation Street regular and Edge patron Julie Hesmondhalgh. “The Edge is such an inclusive place and the Dressing Room is a shining example of that inclusivity.”
Getting to this point, running an arts charity in austerity Britain, has been tough. Janine’s timing could not have been worse. But she has no regrets: “It’s the best thing we’ve ever done.”
Manchester Road, Chorlton M21 9JG
