A TALENTED teenage barista who won a coveted place on a training scheme has been rewarded for his hard work with a permanent job.

Ewan Gordon, 19, of Ardleigh, undertook a six week course with We Walk the Line, a not for profit café at Firstsite, Colchester, where he learned communication and customer service skills.

He so impressed his bosses he was offered a part-time job.

Ewan, who attended Kingswode Hoe School in Colchester, said: “I was thrilled to be offered a job here.

“I absolutely love it and the training programme has given me so much more confidence. I have a smile on my face every time I come to work.”

The café received a £3,000 grant from Colne Housing’s Colne Community Builders Fund, which supports charities in Essex and Suffolk which make a difference to communities.

Sarah Cawley, who co-ordinates the Colne Community Grant fund at Colne, said: “We Walk the Line is exactly the sort of organisation we’re so pleased to help through our Colne Community Builders Fund.

“Colne is an organisation which is all about enabling people to live independently and encouraging communities to thrive and, since launching our fund four years ago, we have now awarded more than £40,000 to local charities and voluntary projects which support people to lead independent lives.”

For more information, call the Essex Community Foundation on 01245 356018.