Ballarat's Cafe BEST to close its doors today

FIFTEEN people will lose their jobs when Cafe Best closes its doors today.It comes one month after BEST Community Development announced high operating costs and a lack of government funding made it impossible to continue trading.The cafe has provided work experience, employment and training opportunities for people with disabilities in the Ballarat area for the last three years.BCD chief executive officer Ron Stone said it was terribly sad to see the cafe close."I feel let down by the government in terms of we were unable to secure adequate government funding to ensure the sustainability of the enterprise,'' he said."It's had remarkable success in providing people with disabilities with the accredited training and work experience and to be able to transition them into employment and it's been a multiple award winner, and national champion for diversity at work.''While a number of workers have already found new employment, many others will have nothing to do come tomorrow morning.Mr Stone said the decision to close the cafe had been made reluctantly, and the organisation exhausted all funding avenues before it announced it had been unable to attract any government funding to assist in achieving financial sustainability."BCD applied for a grant in the first round of the Jobs Fund, and later for an Innovation Fund grant, but both applications were unsuccessful," he said.To recognise all the hard work of employees and supporters over the past three years, a celebration will be held from 5.15pm today.