A development application (DA) has been lodged to construct a hole-in-the-wall coffee outlet at the Catholic Cathedral Parish Centre.

To be named Fully Alive Cafe, the venue would give young people the opportunity to learn new skills with the aim of making them more employable.

Father Paul Devitt said the initiative had been two years in the planning and it would involve people aged 12 to 18 years.

“It’s a bit left-field as far as our usual work,” he said.

But, that, Father Devitt said, was exactly the idea – to appeal to people outside the parish’s usual reach.

“I’m a great believe in engaging people. If we can do something to make them employable, it gives them self esteem and confidence,” he said.

“It’s not just for parishioners, it’s a community-based initiative.

“Things like this will help us be more outward looking.”

Father Devitt said not only would participants learn how to become a barista, they would also gain skills in team work, accounting and running a business.

He said qualifications and skills learnt at the Fully Alive Cafe would help young people to gain employment.

“We’re trying to break the cycle of unemployment,” Father Devitt said.

“Society would function better if we’re running at full employment.”

Sarkis Achmar is working closely with Father Devitt on the project, and has come from setting up a similar cafe in Blacktown in Sydney.

“In the first two years we had 240 young people come through,” he said.

“Training is a massive element of it.”

Mr Achmar said around 70 to 80 per cent of people who had expressed interest in taking part in the Fully Alive Cafe initiative were not parishioners.

“It’s not a fully-fledged care, it’s a social enterprise. Whatever we make will go back into the community,” he said.

“It’s just a way of connecting with people you mightn’t think the church would connect with.”

Father Devitt said he had already received interest in the project from Charles Sturt University and TAFE.

The initiative has been made possible thanks in part to a $13,500 NSW Government grant.