Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Downey's
- Credit: Downey's in Amersfoort. Source: Twitter/@AmersFooi
Business
Amersfoort
Annerieke Nieuwenhuis
Brabant
Brownies&Downies
catering
disabled people
Downey's
growing restaurant businesses
handicapped people
horeca
Limburg
serving
working in a restaurant
Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 14:30
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Down syndrome caterer Downey's a success

Restaurants in The Netherlands employing disabled people are growing fast in number. One such restaurants is Downey's in Amersfoort. This restaurant employs people with Down's syndrome, and is a hit in the city., according to newspaper AD. Downey's opened its doors five years ago. At that time, there were only a handful of similar restaurants in the country. Exact figures are not known, but according to restaurant guide lens.nl, there are around 40 restaurants in The Netherlands with disabled people as staff. Annerieke Nieuwenhuis, the full-time supervisor at Downey's, is helped by volunteers and interns, the newspaper writes. Her parents started the restaurant to provide a useful investment of time for their disabled son Arjan. Their 12 employees are not paid because they get young disabled persons' allowance. The staff at Downey's are encouraged to work entirely independently. "We let our people do everything themselves. They vacuum, take orders, make breakfast, or tuna salad and handle the receipts. But that only works if someone is always present, who looks if everything goes well", Nieuwenhuis says. The supervisor admits that there's not a lot of money being made. "Doesn't matter: As long as we can pay off our loans." Brownies&Downies, which has 12 establishments in Brabant and Limburg, are very successful, and may even go national. "My goal is not to become millionaire, but to work with these fantastic people", says Brownies&Downies founder Thijs Swinkels. "Yes, we make a turnover of €12,000 to €15,000 per year per establishment. But we are also idealistic. Our steady, professional employees are paid entirely from the turnover. But the money that we get from the government, we put into care for our people."

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Boxtel cop fines unlicensed driver, aged 18 months
  • Death threats against Rotterdam mayor on Feyenoord banners
  • Dutch police lacks long-term vision: Inspectorate
  • Ajax to get €24.5 mil. for Ryan Gravenberch's transfer to Bayern Munich
  • Three hurt, including one child, in theme park ride accident
  • Labour leader supports merger with GroenLinks in Senate

Top stories

  • Three hurt, including one child, in theme park ride accident
  • More female managers, but wage gap remains
  • Only male aldlermen in 46 Dutch municipalities
  • More reformed schools denouncing homosexuality despite uproar
  • Defense refused to help manage crowds at Schiphol, CEO says
  • KLM stops ticket sales on Amsterdam flights; Schiphol unveils crowd management plan

© 2012-2022, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content