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As a crew member at Grow, Alex Adamson is one of the friendly faces you'll see when you go to the new cafe there, where his training is clearly feeding his growing ambitions for a career in hospitality.
Alex has been a crew member at Grow for so many years that he can't remember exactly when he started there.
For most of that time he was working on the horticultural team as that was Grow's main focus.
As Guernsey's Rural Occupational Workshop it has given training and employment to adults with learning disabilities and difficulties since 1984.
A multi-million pound fundraising project in 2022 led to the total redevelopment of the Grow headquarters with an expansion of the opportunities it offers to its crew members being rolled out now - during the charity's 40th anniversary year.
Pictured: The Grow fundraising appeal raised £3.5million thanks to the generosity of many people.
Alex wasn't even born when Grow launched, but at 26 years old he is now one of its success stories - an advert for the positive opportunities it provides and the safe environment it uses to nurture the skills of people with different talents and challenges.
Alex was born in Scotland and spent his childhood there before moving to Guernsey with his parents in around 2014.
He's not sure exactly when they moved here but he considers here home, along with Scotland.
His parents had worked in hospitality in Guernsey. He said his dad worked as a chef at the Idlerocks, Bella Luce, and La Villette Hotels and maybe some others too.
When they moved back to Guernsey with Alex, who was in his late teens, he signed up to the Guernsey Employment Trust - an organisation which helps disabled and neurodiverse individuals find work. Through GET Alex started working at Grow.
Pictured: Alex volunteers at the Ron Short Centre. In 2023 he was asked to demonstrate a new accessible bathroom facility for members of the public and the media.
"I came here through the Guernsey Employment Trust. I did work experience at the Ron Short Centre first and then the Guernsey Employment Trust came to me and said there's a charity called Grow and I was like 'wow' so now I'm part of that as well.
"The first time I came here it was like so much vinery work and I had the opportunity to go on garden maintenance and learn how to use a lawn mower and stuff like that and it has gained lots of confidence for me here.
"So, the horticultural work is being to teach me how like to plant the seeds and stuff like that and it's good to have that experience in the greenhouses and stuff like that and it's good to have the opportunity to have the confidence as well in the cafe and to serve customers and just do as much as we can."
Alex seems very at home in the cafe, and although he says he still enjoys the horticultural work and will continue doing that when he can, it is clear that hospitality has his heart. It's only the second day the cafe has been open to the public when we met, and he said it has been a busy morning.
"I still do enjoy different kinds of jobs but I like being in the cafe now because it's more confidence gained for me and for the future and for like, maybe working in a cafe myself in the future," he said.
Pictured: James Ferguson (far right) is training Grow crew members and staff in catering and hospitality skills.
Alex and his fellow cafe crew members are all being mentored by long time professional chef James Ferguson.
"James has been amazing," says Alex, "because, now I am like going on canope nights with him as well so that's a confidence getting that as well and then being here as well and teaching the crew how to like get confident in that stuff as well, because just recently we had a Burns night at Rosaire Court. So we done that and I was helping them serve the food and stuff like that.
"I like work with James as well so it's like because if I didn't have that job to do outside of here, I wouldn't be here.
"The hospitality industry is just amazing to have at Grow for our crew to have the opportunity and skills to have in the future and stuff like that."
Alex works at Grow two days a week, and he also volunteers at the Ron Short Centre two days per work.
With a job and a volunteering commitment, I asked Alex when he has any spare time to himself and how he spends it.
At weekends he walks his family dog, a border terrier called Harvey.
He also likes watching football and visiting his family and friends.
Living in Guernsey with his parents, Alex misses his two brothers - one who still lives in Scotland and one who is away in Australia currently.
Pictured: Alex is a football fan and supports Newcastle United and Scotland.
"(I came here) as an adult, I think in 2014. My mum and dad used to work here in the 80s in the hotels, and my dad used to be a chef as well. They wanted to have me here for the opportunity for me to have these experiences.
"My bigger brother, he lives in Edinburgh, and my younger brother, he's just recently working in Australia. I get to see my brother in Scotland more often and as well when my younger brother comes back for Christmas, I get to see them as a big family again."
He's also got friends in Scotland too from when he lived there so he enjoys going back to visit everyone.
He of course supports Scotland in national football and his club team is Newcastle United.
"I like watching the football on the weekend, I go out, and walking with the dog as well," he says.
Matches he has seen live include a derby against Sunderland.
"I went to Newcastle, we went to the first Tyne Wear derby against Sunderland. It is from the opposite of the river Tyne, to on the Wearside. Tyne versus Wear. It is a passionate game!"
I mentioned to Alex that I have a friend in Sunderland to which he replied "boo" and then laughed.
"We are the Magpies and they are the Mackems!" he reminded me.
Pictured: The Grow cafe is open Tuesdays 11:30-15:30, Wednesdays 10:00-11:30 and 12:30-15:30, and Thursdays 10:00-11:30.
Moving away from football and back to safer subjects, Alex said he had to get back to work at the cafe, ready for the afternoon rush. The following day he would be at the Ron Short Centre before heading back to the Grow cafe for another busy day at work.
His new found enthusiasm for hospitality will extend to both facilities he says.
"I just volunteer (at the Ron Short Centre) so this (Grow) is my main work....because in the future, hopefully at the Ron Short Centre we will have a healthy cafe as well. Hopefully we will be able to do that."
He's at the Ron Short Centre two days a week and at Grow two days a week. The Grow cafe itself is now open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week.
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