By Mikayla van Loon
The moment youth charity Bridge Builders had been waiting for finally arrived just a few weeks ago with the opening of its newest venture – The CriBB Cafe and Wine Bar.
Coined by founder and director Phil Stenhouse OAM as “a cafe with a cause”, the sole purpose is for the development of young people, while also providing a welcoming, fresh environment for the Lilydale township.
Since opening and officially launching on Monday 5 August, Mr Stenhouse said the response from the community has been extremely positive, so much so the menu and hours have had to increase.
“That’s always heartwarming, really, because you have an idea or vision about something, and you think it’s going to work, but you don’t know until you test it and do it,” he said.
All of the proceeds made in the cafe go directly back to the charity to fund its youth programs and continue the cycle of bettering young people’s lives.
“We love being able to sustain the charitable work through commercial enterprise and we’re not funding dependent, which sets us apart. We’re not uncertain in our future,” Mr Stenhouse said.
“So having income generating enterprises like that is something that really helps sustain charity and you’re not always putting your hand out. You’re actually building skills. You’re building people to a point where they can give back to their community, which is what people want to do.
“So I love it, I love what we do.”
Having had the idea years ago, it took time to build the funds and find the space to achieve the outcome.
Director Beck Mitchell said seeing the dream come to fruition has given a tangible outcome to all the fundraising and team effort over multiple years.
“Some of the funds from our recent Postie Bike Ride actually made the enterprise possible, which was great because lots of things that we do take a lot of effort,” she said.
“Over the last two years, we’ve worked to bring this enterprise to life. It’s quite amazing to have something like this idea of, ‘well, maybe we could do more for young people, and this is how we could do it’, but to actually see that hit the ground and be successful in the first seven weeks, that’s just incredible.
“To have so much support from the community already, so much buy-in from local businesses to get it up and running in the first place, and just to see the vision that Phil had and the idea that he had to bring the community together actually come to life is extraordinary.”
Organisations like Treasuring our Trees and the Croydon Hills Men’s Shed, Ms Mitchell said, were instrumental in supplying handmade features for the space.
“We’ve had some high top tables built and donated by the Croydon Hills Men’s Shed and they made the tabletops out of the old Croydon Basketball Stadium,” she said.
“So the top of the table is literally the old basketball floor, which is incredible. So it’s repurposing and having another community organisation buy into the project. There’s those stories right through the whole building, from the front to back.”
While it has quickly become a space for coffee catch ups and post work drinks, Ms Mitchell said with two skilled managers and the rest of the staff being young people, achieving the goal of being an employment and training space has also happened quickly.
The staff have had intensive barista training from Storehouse, a local coffee supplier, with food safety, allergy and customer service training all on the agenda.
Supporting the official launch, Evelyn MP Bridget Vallence said the work of Bridge Builders continues to inspire and create opportunities for young people to grow and develop into community contributors.
“The CriBB is an exciting initiative – it’s not just Lilydale’s newest café, but will enable opportunities for local young people to gain valuable skills, develop their confidence, and know they’re contributing to our local economy,” she said.
“An absolute privilege to be asked by the Bridge Builders team to cut the ribbon and officially open The CriBB, an organisation that does incredible work supporting youth in our community.”
The CriBB has already booked out October for functions, with Christmas party bookings coming in quickly.
Mr Stenhouse said with the welcoming of daylight savings again, trading hours will extend and live music nights will become a feature all weekend, making it ”a really groovy spot for people to come and hang out at”.
The CriBB can be found at 222 Maroondah Highway Lilydale.
