For those involved with the Oxfordshire charity Yellow Submarine, the team behind the organisation are celebrating what they have achieved in the fifteen years since the Staveley family first established Yellow Submarine in 2009.
Toby Staveley, a successful business entrepreneur, wanted to improve the lives of people such as his late uncle Max, who had Down’s Syndrome. Toby and his family had come to realise that in order for Max to have a holiday, the cost could be astronomical as he required multiple carers, their food, accommodation and travel costs, all to be added to his travel costs. With Max’s dream holiday being a visit to Disneyland, Toby and Lucy Staveley drew on their existing skills and created Yellow Submarine. Their aim was to run holidays for people in Max’s situation together with their families or carers too. By piloting a modest number of small group breaks, bringing together people with similar interests, whilst keeping costs as low as possible, using willing friends and family as volunteers. The breaks they created were affordable and fun whilst providing the necessary support and care.
“Yellow Submarine's first ever holiday was to a farm in Somerset,” says Toby. “I remember picking everyone up at the start and there was a mixture of excitement and nerves. How would it go? Would we be, okay? Well true to what to what is now the spirit of Yellow Submarine holidays it was both hugely fun and a chance for each of us to try new things, to step outside our comfort zones and to grow as people. From roasting marshmallows around a campfire to joining in a barn dance we made memories and friendships that live on fifteen years later!"
They went on to establish Yellow Submarine as a charity in 2010, appointing Trustees and started to employ a small group of people to help them develop the services they can provide to young people with learning disabilities and autism. Sadly, Max passed away, but his memory lives on. The residential holidays which Yellow Submarine organises are for adults with learning disabilities and autism. All their holidays are led by trained and experienced staff aided by volunteers, often with close to a 2:1 ratio of care.
In addition to offering residential care holidays, Yellow Submarine now also offers Holiday Activity Days for young people during school holidays. Operating closely to a ‘mainstream’ holiday club rather than a ‘day service,’ the activity days are designed to challenge the young people to do as much as possible themselves. Hub days offering various activities based on themes, involving various activities from cooking to messy art to crazy science to trips out in the local area are also organised. These days provide an opportunity for the young people to spend time with friends. To create as many life experiences as possible, Yellow Submarine also provide Outdoor days at a range of sites including Hill End. Participants have the chance to explore, get muddy and play in the woods. They learn bushcraft skills, such as fire lighting, tracking and shelter building along with whittling or camp cooking.
Their term-time Youth Clubs also provide a fantastic place for the young people to make new friends and spend time with old ones. Yellow Submarine has also set up ‘Reach’ which is an exciting daytime project designed to help each member achieve their goals and reach their full potential. Mornings are spent developing new skills whilst afternoons will be for fun and friends.
In order to help young people with additional needs to secure training opportunities leading to employment, the charity wanted to help provide real life work opportunities and in order to do this, back in 2013, they open their first café in Oxford. A year later, the first group of apprentices started work in the café. In 2015, their social enterprise café opened in The Windrush Leisure Centre in Witney’s Witan Way. This café provided opportunities for a larger group of trainees to participate in the Yellow Submarine Traineeship Programme. “Our traineeship has grown over the past 11 years and along with it our dedication to supporting individuals with learning disabilities and autism into the world of work. Demand is ever increasing for our services with families, carers and teachers reaching out to us for opportunities to support their young person into employment. To meet this demand, we have to start thinking about the expansion of our social enterprise which is vital to provide real life training opportunities. We are keen to increase our capacity to produce our life-changing bakes and along with it provide additional training opportunities, especially for those who prefer roles away from customer-facing interactions. A new site will enable us to continue making a positive impact, offering diverse and inclusive career paths for all our trainees. If you know of a space that would be suitable, please do get in touch!” Becs Lay, Traineeship Manager.
The Witney Leisure Centre café does not just sell delicious freshly made food and drinks at very reasonable prices, but they also create incredible, life-changing opportunities for young people with additional needs. The cafés are currently supporting 13 talented disabled individuals to complete a bespoke traineeship, transitioning from education to employment. If you have not heard of The Yellow Submarine Café before, isn’t it time you paid them a visit? The coffee shop, located on the first floor of the Leisure Centre, is open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 5.45 pm and on Saturdays from 8 am until 1 pm (closed Sundays). You do not have to be using the Leisure Centre’s sporting facilities to use the café.
Since 2013, 63 adults have accessed the programme, with 71% of them getting into paid employment. This has been achieved by the charity’s management and volunteers providing nearly 90,000 hours of training.
One of the most significant parts of the training programme was the introduction in 2019 of ‘Life Changing Bakes’. This enabled Yellow Submarine to add baking skills as part of their students traineeship producing delicious cakes and cookies. During the Covid lockdown, an online shop was created, enabling ‘Life Changing Bakes’ to be delivered nationwide. This proved extraordinarily successful and continues today, extending to wholesale customers too. Their best sellers are the Almond Kisses, but they also create delicious cookies, tarts, celebration cakes and tray bakes. To find out more visit yellowsubmarineshop.org/cakes.
To extend their experience, the young trainees and staff hosted a stall at TRUCK Music Festival where over 4 days they sold 6000 slices of cheese on toast and supplied numerous cakes too. In 2023, not only did the ‘Life Changing Bakes’ win the High Street Shop of the Year Award, but they were also selected by Blenheim Palace as their Charity of the Year and the Yellow Submarine’s annual Café Awards was held there.
This summer Yellow Submarine will have a stand at the Witney Carnival on the 13th July which has the theme of ‘Children’s TV of the 80’s’; Yellow Submarine will be having a ‘Scooby Do’ themed float and will also have a stall offering fun and games.
As part of the recognition of their outstanding achievements over a fifteen year period, Yellow Submarine are keen to be able to expand their ‘Life Changing Bakes’ operation to enable more young people with additional needs to participate in their 18 month training programme. In order to do this, they are looking for a non-customer facing premises where they can open up a catering/baking kitchen. If you have any suggestions, please contact Sophie Bradley, Enterprise Development Manager.
Through the work that Yellow Submarine do supporting people with additional needs and their families, they support and train members, preparing them for employment and independent living as they move into adulthood. If you are interested in being part of this caring charity, check out their website for vacancies and volunteering opportunities.
To find out more about the charity please visit yellowsubmarine.org.uk and yellowsubmarineshop.org/cafes.
