A Visit to CJ's Bakery – Creating Meaningful Employment for Adults with Learning Disabilities

Welcome to today’s episode, where we take you inside one of North London’s most inspiring hidden gems—CJ’s Bakery! But this isn’t just any bakery. It’s a place where passion meets purpose, where every loaf, cake, and pastry has a story to tell. At CJ’s, all the bakers are adults with learning disabilities, working together in a safe, welcoming, and empowering environment.

It’s more than just baking—it’s about building confidence, community, and, of course, creating delicious treats! So, get ready to step into the warmth of CJ’s Bakery, meet the incredible team, and maybe even imagine the smell of freshly baked bread through your speakers. Let’s get started!

To order from CJ's Bakery click here.

Project Managers: Andrea Rai & Phil Powell.

Editor: Phil Powell

Project Managers: Andrea Rai & Phil Powell
Editor: Phil Powell

Huge thanks to the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund for supporting our Dis-labled podcast. Learn more about their amazing work: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

All enquiries: podcast@communityfocus.co.uk
Website: https://www.communityfocus.co.uk/

Theme Music: Rastko Rasic & the students of Community FocusOther Music: Jazzy Frenchy by ⁠⁠⁠Benjamin Tissot

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:07

Community focused. Community focused. We're here for you. With me and you.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

After hours.

Phillip R 0:19

Our work of you. At five o'clock. Yes, but the podcast clue.

SPEAKER_11 0:29

A weekend with you. We're here for you. Yes. Hooray! Hooray!

Gila 0:47

Community Focus is an art centre for children and adults with disabilities. We are based in Baba Bonnet, North London, and offers of creative and well-being activities for all ages.

SPEAKER_18 1:04

In the room we have Jonathan. Bye-bye.

Andrea 1:16

Jonathan, and he just said that in sign language. John and James.

Gila 1:29

In today's episode, we are at TJ's Bakery. PJ's Bakery is a friendly bakery based in North London. All our bakers are adults with a learning disability. PJ creates meaningful work in a safe and welcoming space. I hope you enjoy listening to our episode.

SPEAKER_14 2:03

My favorite is vegan chocolate brownies. Oh why do you like chocolate brownies? Because I like uh all the promounce in them in in the fabric for brownies. Yeah.

SPEAKER_15 2:19

I like to bag a bread in the mixer. A chocolate chocolate cake.

Phillip R 2:28

Is that so a chocolate is your favourite thing to bake?

SPEAKER_15 2:31

Yes.

Phillip R 2:35

That would chocolate chocolate cake, isn't it?

SPEAKER_15 2:37

Wouldn't it? It's delicious.

Phillip R 2:41

Boss, what what what thing do that cake? What thing do that to make?

SPEAKER_03 2:49

What do I like to bake? Um I love our Victoria sponge cake. I love our bread. And also our flapjacks. I love it all really.

Phillip R 3:04

So you have this cake and eat it.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

I quite often do make my cake and I eat it, yes.

SPEAKER_18 3:21

How do you make bread? Do you use organic ingredients?

SPEAKER_03 3:26

Um so yes, we make lots of different types of bread at CJ's. We make sourdough bread, and yes, we do use organic flour in our sourdough bread. Um the ingredients are water, flour, salt, and that's it. And we mix them together and then we leave it for about two days and then we bake it in a very hot oven. We also make um some olive bread where we add olives, um, rosemary bread, um, and we use seed sometimes, um and we make a sandwich loaf. And we also eat our bread for lunch at CJ's Bakery. We have baker's lunch, which is a really important part of our day.

SPEAKER_18 4:14

I think that's a good answer.

unknown 4:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 4:17

Thanks for that. Jonathan, do you want to go next?

SPEAKER_02 4:20

What makes your bakery so special?

SPEAKER_15 4:24

That is a bakery. Okay, then my friends and the family excited to about that and the very apron hat wash her hands clean shoes ready to cook great.

Gila 4:53

Um the bakery has a lot of special things. Um it has really good vibes. We do a lot of laughing um a lot of baking. Um the baker's lunch is really, really good. Um and I love coming here because it's like a fresh start to the rent to my Wednesday morning. So it's I just love coming here and bake.

SPEAKER_14 5:33

Well um it's one big um family with like you know like we bring our guest camp and we put it in the other whiteboard to see who's coming and we got some players of salesens and one of the servants' players came over to help as well. So that's good for us.

Phil P 6:01

And what what makes you get up in the morning and love to do bacon?

SPEAKER_14 6:05

That's my my my my favourite thing to do actually. Yeah, um friendly and welcoming, bacon fun, baker's lunch, infrared, ice and cakes. I like put like we put happy birthday on it and yeah, because we do make birthday cakes as well.

SPEAKER_18 6:33

James, who is Saracen?

SPEAKER_14 6:35

Is it what team is that? It's for Saracen's um is a Saracen's team and um only one of them is um Place with Saracen's woman team. And she came here to help us to to bake as well. So she's another member of the baking team.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

What cake did we make with Ella? What did we make when Ella came last summer?

SPEAKER_14 7:07

Oh yeah, it's uh it's a a written cake um if someone was getting married.

Phillip R 7:23

I want to ask you a question. How long you've been working for people with with learning difficulties?

SPEAKER_03 7:31

So CJ's Bakery is the first time that I've worked with adults with learning disabilities and I absolutely love it.

Phillip R 7:39

What made you w want to work with people learning with learning difficulties?

SPEAKER_03 7:45

When adults with learning disabilities leave college, it can be very difficult for them to find work and meaningful things to do every day. So I thought creating CJ's Bakery might provide some opportunities for adults to come and do something really worthwhile, meaningful, and learn new skills at the same time. We've been going for about three years.

SPEAKER_18 8:19

Thank you very much.

unknown 8:21

You're very welcome.

SPEAKER_18 8:23

Do you use any secret ingredients?

SPEAKER_14 8:26

Well, but okay, I will say though, I will say gooseberries.

SPEAKER_18 8:32

What is gooseberries?

SPEAKER_14 8:34

Gooseberries is like uh fruit, yeah. So our new recipe is called gooseberry cake. Do you like eating your cakes? Yes I do, yes.

Phil P 8:50

Do you like eating your cakes?

SPEAKER_15 8:54

Yes. I did the cakes for the wife cafe.

SPEAKER_14 9:01

Do you have any famous customers? LOES Voice Alisons and just so yesterday they baked for for men's voice team.

SPEAKER_03 9:16

We also got invited to take our cakes to Netflix and we got a special tour of the office in central London. That was amazing.

SPEAKER_15 9:26

Oh yeah, yeah, amazing, amazing. Uh go we do the trip trip trip to Powton Peton Trip. We all have trips, don't we? So many cakes.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

Tell us about your connection with the Wave Hub.

Gila 9:57

So Ferency team um bakes for the Wave Hub in Marshall Hill. Um so all the bakes we are baking today goes to the Wave Hub and offer costume is as well. Um and the Wave Hub is a welcoming environment that um that loves our bakes. Um and we do do some fest in the Wave Hub. The Wave Hub has got a similar e-foot to our bakery. Um the Wraith Hub is open every Thursday and you can do yogurt there, you can get our bakes there and also you can have lunch um at the Wraith Hub and also James works at the Wave Hub.

SPEAKER_14 11:06

So we we we bring our cakes and cookies to go to the Wave Cafe and everyone can destroy it and then um fair will pay for it as well for for for money. Well uh I just do for for waitering you know like I do um make cup of tea, coffee and if I want to have a cake I will and I will slice it and put it in the plate, get a a fork and I will go to them and then and if they will pay. Yeah and I'm really am enjoying it of working there, so yeah, I am 45 Nowhere Street is a spiraling pigling soap opera written and performed by the drama students at Community Focus.

Phillip R 12:13

Listen now, or the fog will get you.

SPEAKER_07 12:49

I'm so excited for tonight's hub quiz. I wonder who would be the victim. I mean loser.

SPEAKER_08 13:01

Lots of meat in tonight will must be the toest season. It's exciting. Um what can we do to drink?

SPEAKER_07 13:39

I can't decide between a pinnacle of a sacrifice. Why not both? I'm celebrating my new dolly.

SPEAKER_08 13:56

Dear, did somebody step out of the light and look into their eyes again? Yes!

SPEAKER_07 14:04

Very rude, but at least I get a new dolly out of them. Get her a white motion for the meal, of course.

SPEAKER_17 14:18

So my name is Caroline Quincy Friedan, and I came here all my way from Little Town called Independent, Alabama, cause I think these Brits are so silly. Do you feel the Queen is here?

Phillip R 14:35

No, she is. I just say dead. We dead.

SPEAKER_17 14:39

Ah shucks. I guess I've never done a pub quiz before. Usually, my hobbies are guns and freedom. Have you done one? We're see. Hey look, Ness. I can't wait.

Phillip R 14:54

Ladies and gentlemen, hope you are ready for the quiz of your lifetime. And for one of you loves quiz of your lifetime. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_17 15:07

Sure I am.

Phillip R 15:08

Yes, question one. What is the combined number of toasts in the bar?

SPEAKER_17 15:14

That's such a difficult one. I was never good at maths, but I'm gonna say a hundred and fifty.

Phillip R 15:30

What? We're imperfect. Question two. What is the correct way to wear your socks?

SPEAKER_17 15:39

On your feet? No!

Phillip R 15:42

The correct answer is outside.

SPEAKER_17 15:45

Must be a European thing.

Phillip R 15:48

Science! The third question is if everyone had a moustache, what would the moustaches be called? We wee, that is a that is a good question.

SPEAKER_17 15:59

It could be Robert Burns. That's what I core called a man. It's a true question. Moustaches cannot have names.

Phillip R 16:10

It's Abraham the final question. What is Caroline's Princess Freedom favourite food?

SPEAKER_17 16:16

Well, I know the answer is hamburger and fries.

Phillip R 16:22

It's actually deep fried mac and cheese.

SPEAKER_17 16:28

But I'm Caroline Quincy Freedom. I know the answer to my favourite food.

Phillip R 16:34

Well, Carolina Quincy as the loser of the quiz has the pleasure of experiencing the fog.

SPEAKER_17 16:42

The what?

Phillip R 16:43

The fog. What time do you start? I what time do you finish?

SPEAKER_03 17:36

So we start at half past nine and we finish at two.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

Is the bakery everything you want it to be?

SPEAKER_03 17:43

I love CJ's bakery. And yes, at the moment it is everything I want it to be. We have the most amazing bakers who love to come and bake, and we make fabulous cakes for our really, really cool customers. So yeah, it's everything I want it to be at the moment. Thank you.

Phillip R 18:02

If anyone like to join this group, what do we have to do?

Gila 18:08

If you want to join CJ's bakery, you have to go off a website and there's a section on the website that says contact us. Go through contact us, then you can email San, but it's a very long waiting list. Just email San and San will get um get you on the waiting list. If you want to support CJ's, you can support CJ's by buying all of our cakes. They are really great tasting. We can bake for you and also deliver to your house.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

Where does the name CJ's come from?

SPEAKER_14 18:59

It stands for Chef James of me. Of me, yeah.

SPEAKER_18 19:06

Who do who is Chef James?

SPEAKER_14 19:08

Oh it's it's m it's me, yeah. Is Chef James is on is on it's on that info.

SPEAKER_18 19:18

Can you tell us about your ingredients?

SPEAKER_14 19:22

It's it is very good. We use uh we use for in expensive egg genes.

SPEAKER_03 19:31

One of the ethoses that CJ's has is that we use really high quality ingredients and alongside the high quality skills that the bakers have, we create really amazingly delicious and high-quality bakes.

Phillip R 19:50

Is it a charity or or do they get paid? Are they employed by this group?

SPEAKER_03 19:56

So we're not a charity, but we are a not-for-profit company. It's called a CIC. Um everybody at CJ's is a volunteer.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

How many days do you bake? How many people do you support?

SPEAKER_14 20:16

We bake on three days on Tuesday, Saturday, Wednesday, and Friday. And we have all twelve as well. Twelve people as well in total of a baker.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

There's usually one or two support workers in the bakery at any one time.

Phillip R 20:49

If I want to order something, how do I order?

Gila 20:54

Um if you want to order, you can go on for website and there's a section on for website that's that says menu and it just a drop down with cakes and cookies and bread and gluten-free and there's offered types there that you can click on. Um and then when you see something you like, click on it, then it uh it adds it to the basket. And then checkout and you usually have to write a few days um because we have to bake it and then deliver to deliver it to you, or you can come and pick it up for um CJ speaker.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

We only bake to order, so we don't keep anything in stock. We do do some events, so if you email, we can Um we can liaise via email and deliver somewhere in central London. We have quite a lot of corporate clients who like to order CJs for their office parties.

SPEAKER_18 22:14

What kind of event is it that you do?

SPEAKER_03 22:19

Things like breakfast meetings, lunch meetings, celebrations, birthdays, weddings, lots of parties.

Phillip R 22:30

On behalf of everyone, I'd like to thank CJ for having us here. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_14 22:38

Well, this is us, this is Chef. Chef, Shave M Speaker, thank you.

SPEAKER_10 22:50

This is us.

Andrea 22:52

Yeah, hello.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming. I'm sorry you can't stay longer. We will come and visit you and do some baking together. Would you like that?

Phillip R 23:08

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 23:20

Phew! That was a walk. Now we're back at the TF podcast of what do you think about that guy?

Phil P 23:33

So we've just got back from CJ's bakery, and we've also got Gilla with us, who was actually at the bakery at the time, who's one of the bakers. So Gilla, how was it having us descend on you at the uh bakery?

Gila 23:48

It was lovely having for podcasters there, just there, and CJ's really like collided together. Um and it was really lovely to hear people for bakery confidence, um see Seth James Confidence in the bakery, um coming out and speaking on the podcast. Um it was lovely hearing the questions that you came up with to just have both rocks glide together and hopefully CJ can come in CF and just something with them.

Phillip R 24:46

I really enjoyed it. It was really nice, you know. It was it was really marvellous because it was a nice setup. I think it was nice, it was really nice it was.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

Yeah, it was uh it was a nice experience.

Phil P 25:02

Uh I think the only problem was we didn't get to taste any of their food, did we?

Phillip R 25:07

No, we didn't, no.

Phil P 25:08

No, we didn't.

Andrea 25:09

I think the whole idea behind CJ's bakery and Sean's vision for it, it shares the same ethos as CF. Gila, why did you want to be a part of CJ's bakery? What was the main reason?

Gila 25:23

So I joined CJ's bakery because um a family friend said to my parents, Oh, I think Ghila would love doing cooking on Ernstay and basically cooking to sell. Um and I went to one of the taster sessions um and I thought I I had so much anxiety because I bake, um, but not regularly like what I'm doing now. But for family friends said I think you would really love doing it. So I went along and I know James for CJ's um at my school. So that was all fine. Got in and it just was really like heartwarming to see how they include everyone and how they provide for bakes for for Rafe Cafe and off and offer orders. Um and it just one big happy family.

Andrea 27:05

So what did you do, Phil? You ordered yourself a birthday cake.

Phil P 27:11

I did. I ordered myself a birthday cake. My family said to me, What do you want for your birthday? And I said, Don't get me anything, I'm not bothered. But uh what I would like is a cake from CJ's bakery. It was really chocolatey. I got a chocolate cake. I am a bit of a chocolate. It was really chocolatey. I mean dense chocolate and so rich, and you could tell that the ingredients were absolutely like the best ingredients. I think they use the only organic stuff, don't you? But it was just amazing, and it didn't last very long.

SPEAKER_10 27:51

You didn't you didn't share it with us, I think.

Phil P 27:52

I can tell you that much, it didn't last very long, but um it was we really loved it. So thank you so much to s to CJ's for making it. Thank you to Gilla and others for the lettering, and you can expect another order next year.

SPEAKER_11 28:09

Yay!

SPEAKER_00 28:10

Hundred percent community focused, community focused, we're here for you with me and you all for you as far as that food, we can with you, we're here for you, yes,