Pomegranate Café offers training and employment opportunities for people with lived experiences of homelessness or other barriers to work. Adelaide is the first employee, who is a previous service user, to gain paid employment at the social-enterprise café.
This is her story:
Adelaide is from the Champagne region of France, she moved to UK in early 2000s, firstly to London and then to Wolverhampton. With an NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care, she worked as a care assistant for Sandwell Hospital and lived with her daughter and husband in the city.
To visit relatives Adelaide went to Congo in Africa, whilst there she caught Malaria and was hospitalised, twice. She was in Congo for eight months as she was too poorly to return to the UK. As she was out of the country for so long, when she returned, she lost her job and her home. She also went through a divorce.
Falling on difficult times, her social worker referred her to the Good Shepherd’s family pantry service to receive food and goods for her and her daughter. She used the service for two years whilst she rebuilt her life.
Adelaide then began volunteering at the Good Shepherd’s dining service:
“The people at the Good Shepherd were so good to me, I wanted to give something back.”
Adelaide then successfully gained employment at the Good Shepherd as a cleaner three days a week. In October last year Adelaide became the first person, who was previously a service-user, to gain employment at Pomegranate Café.
“I love working at Pomegranate because they treat everyone the same. We have our usual customers I like talking to, we have good food at a good price.”
Adelaide is happy and now has a positive outlook on life. She has a place at Scholars Schools System to study Health and Social Care Bsc (Hons) in September 2025.
She is also very proud that her daughter, now 21, who is studying Psychology and Criminology at Birkbeck University in London.
Chief Executive of Good Shepherd, Tom Hayden said:
“It’s great to see the difference that Pomegranate has had on Adelaide’s life and that she’s doing so well.
“Pomegranate café provides training and employment pathways which we are looking to provide even more of over the next year.
Leader of City of Wolverhampton Council, Councillor Stephen Simkins said:
“Adelaide is an inspiration to us all and I congratulate her on the journey she has made, overcoming real adversity.
“I’m so glad the Pomegranate café at the Queen’s Building has been part of her being able to rebuild her life, it’s exactly why the council created the Queen’s building with our partners the Good Shepherd and the Wolves Foundation.
“So please support the café if you can, you can get a great coffee and bite to eat, while knowing it’s also helping people like Adelaide.”
As well as providing training and employment opportunities to support people like Adelaide, every penny of profit from Pomegranate Cafe is donated back to the Good Shepherd’s free to access services.
Located in the Queen’s Building by the bus station, the café is open Tuesday – Friday 9am – 2.30pm. Serving quality coffee, freshly made sandwiches and paninis, cakes and homemade lunch specials.
For more information about the Pomegranate Café visit https://www.gsmwolverhampton.org.uk/pomegranate/