Pure Coffee, located in the historic Vernon Park in Stockport, is far more than a typical cafe. Run by the charity Pure Innovations, it offers invaluable professional and social experiences for individuals with learning difficulties, autism, and mental health conditions.
Heart of the Community
The cafe, housed in the former Vernon Museum building, provides barista training and customer service roles for clients, fostering independence and a sense of belonging. "The cafe is an example where they’re learning skills in the catering field, learning independence, and they're doing really great stuff alongside their friends and it gives them that sense of belonging," said Louise Parrott-Bates, CEO of Pure Innovations.
Pure Innovations, which branched out from Stockport Council in 2005, supports hundreds of people across Greater Manchester. It operates cafes at Etherow Country Park, The Boathouse Café in Oldham’s Alexandra Park, and the Windmill Cafe opposite Stockport Town Hall, as well as a commercial bakery called Pure Kitchen on The Underbanks.
Creating Opportunities
The charity focuses on helping people gain independence and secure paid employment through supported internships, vocational training, and community activities. "It's really important that people with a disability are not hidden in the workforce," Parrott-Bates added. "Amazon has taken on nine of our people from Pure."
However, challenges remain. "One of the challenges has been that a lot of the people looking for employment have been after entry level jobs, but there has been a squeeze on those types of jobs because of the real living wage, National Insurance Contributions and so on," she explained.
Creative Spaces
Upstairs, two studios offer clients opportunities to develop artistic skills in sculpture, drawing, and painting. This creative outlet helps ensure people with learning disabilities and autism are not excluded from everyday experiences.
Access Festival
Pure Innovations also organizes the annual Access Festival at Stockport Guildhall. Now in its sixth year, the event has grown from 30 attendees to over 300. Emily Baker, who founded the festival, said: "After going to a festival a few years ago, I realised that it wasn’t just the music that stayed with me… many of the people we support at Pure had never had that experience."
The 2026 theme, chosen by clients, is 'Hawaii Summer'. The festival features live music, karaoke, face-painting, photo booths, and more. "For a lot of our clients and their families, it might be their only night out of the year. It’s a night of pure belonging," Baker added.
Local businesses are invited to sponsor, volunteer, or contribute to the event. Pure Innovations hopes to challenge the underrepresentation of adults with learning disabilities in social and cultural spaces.
