WELCOME TO CONNECTIONS CAFÉS!
Compass Connections Cafés are social enterprises that provide meaningful vocational opportunities for people with disabilities looking for real-world hospitality and customer service experience and to unleash their inner barista, cook and waiter / waitress. Since opening, we have had over 50 Trainees from across the local community undertake vocational training and have served countless customers delicious coffees, meals and treats!
Our success and reputation in the community – not only for our delicious food and coffee, but also for the warmest customer service you will get anywhere – have now led to expanding across now FOUR different Connections Cafe locations! Find out more below.
CONNECTIONS CAFÉ NAMBOUR
Connections Café Nambour was established in 2016 through a special collaboration between Compass and Cricks Sunshine Coast (Nambour Dealership). It was our first social enterprise cafe and the first on the Sunshine Coast offering vocational opportunities for people with disabilities.
In 2022, the cafe underwent a complete transformation and is now one of the Coast’s most iconic destination cafes with a purpose! Connections Café Nambour has grown to become one of our most successful and vibrant social enterprises, with many regulars visiting us, including monthly drop-ins from the Porsche Club and many other community organisations. We are now also featured on the Nambour Street Art trail thanks to the beautiful mural on the front of our premises, painted by local artist Ross Holloway.
Connections Cafe Nambour is open from Monday-Friday from 7:00am – 2:30pm, offering a full breakfast and lunch menu, including sweet treats that are all made in-house, along with coffees, teas and delicious milkshakes.
CONNECTIONS CAFÉ CALOUNDRA
The Compass Connections Café Caloundra is a wonderful collaboration with our partners at Caloundra City Autos. Setup inside the dealership itself, the Compass team serves fresh barista coffee and delicious treats to the customers and staff at the dealership. We welcome anyone whose visiting the dealership or is nearby to come and enjoy the warm hospitality and quality products on offer.
The café is located inside the Caloundra City Autos dealership, at 44 Caloundra Road, Caloundra. Coffee and cake is served from Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 2pm.
CONNECTIONS CAFÉ MAROOCHYDORE
Connections Café Maroochydore is our newest social enterprise cafe venture, opening in December of 2022. Like so many parts of the Compass journey, the opportunity to replicate Connections Cafe at another central venue was made possible by the incredible Sunshine Coast community.
The Avenue Retirement Village was in search of a community-minded operator to move into the cafe space on the ground floor of their beautiful premises and support servicing both the local Maroochydore community and of course, their wonderful residents. So, we said YES! Thanks to the incredibly generous partners who attended the 2022 Compass Charity Golf Day, we were able to raise the funds needed to get us started in the space, and now we’ve settled right into bringing Compass magic to the Maroochydore community and beyond!
Connections Cafe Maroochydore is open from Monday-Friday from 7:30am – 2:30pm, offering a full breakfast and lunch menu (the same as Connections Nambour), including sweet treats that are all made in-house, along with coffees, teas and delicious hot chocolates.
SERVICE WITH A SMILE
When you visit any Connections or Compass Café, you can expect to be greeted with a smile by our Trainees, who will also go out of their way to serve you and make sure your experience is a great one. Our Trainees are involved in everything from food preparation to cooking, coffee making, serving, cash handling and cleaning.
For our Trainees, gaining experience in our Cafés is a chance to not only realise their goals of working in a hospitality environment, but to also serve their community and make meaningful connections each and every day!
So please take the time to say hello and have a chat – not only will you make our Trainees’ days, but we know that they will also make yours!
WE CAN CATER FOR YOUR EVENT!
In addition to offering a full breakfast and lunch menu, Connections Cafés also offer catering for local businesses and events.
We have catered for everything from community events and local government gatherings to funerals and birthdays. Compass Trainees are also involved in our catering offering and are part of the team helping to prepare and package up your food and beverages!
Why not choose a social enterprise for your next gathering? Get in touch for more information and to chat with our friendly café crew about our catering packages.
For more information about what’s on offer at Compass, or to chat to someone about beginning your journey with us, please fill out the below details and our team will be in touch really soon.
BECOME A TRAINEE
trainee stories
-
Meet Trainee Nienna
When we were first looking at options for Nienna after finishing at Special School, the most important thing for us was finding somewhere that would help her work towards more independence.
-
Meet Trainee Caitlin
It’s a smile we all love – not just Compass staff, but also, pretty much every visitor that comes to Compass Farm knows Caitlin, as she’s often the first to greet them and make them feel welcome with her big and vibrant personality.
-
Meet Trainee Dylan
He has gained more confidence and become more adaptable to ever-changing situations. He has connected with his peers and trainers and become quite a happy young man.
Connections Café Nambour
- 950 Nambour Connection Road, Nambour
- Mon – Fri (7:00am – 2:30pm)
- (07) 5476 1251
- [email protected]
Connections Café Maroochydore
- 32 Baden Powell St, Maroochydore
- Mon – Fri (7:00am – 2:30pm)
- (07) 5476 1251
- [email protected]
our enterprises
Compass Connections Café in Nambour offers a full breakfast and lunch menu, along with tasty treats all made in-house with LOVE and served with a smile and lots of laughs by our amazing team of Trainees and café staff!
Compass Connections Café Maroochydore is centrally located in Baden Powell Street and offers a full breakfast and lunch menu, along with tasty treats all made in-house with LOVE and served with a smile and lots of laughs by our amazing team of Trainees and café staff!
Located in the picturesque Maroochy Bushland Botanical Gardens, Compass Garden Café offers an oasis of relaxation accompanied by coffee, tea, milkshakes and the warmth of our Trainees and team. Be sure to try Deharn’s famous home-made scones!
Located at Compass Farm, Harvest Kitchen is a commercial-style kitchen that offers catering services to the Farm and also produces a wide range of beautiful home-made condiments including jams, chutneys, pickles, sauces and flavoured salts, which are sold to the public as speciality hampers. Produce can also be found in our Garden Café and Wabi Sabi Creations.
Located in the heart of Nambour at C-Square, Wabi Sabi Creations is a unique store selling hand-crafted creations made by Compass Trainees from across our many campuses – from pottery, to woodwork, paintings, hampers and more – you won’t be disappointed!
Rakes and Panes is a property maintenance service that covers lawn and garden maintenance along with window cleaning. Our Trainees, along with Compass Farm Trainer Jack, are only too happy to service your residential or commercial property for you at competitive rates and of course – always with a smile!
