Tasty Plate staff, participants need closure, says disability advocate

All Abilities Advocacy South West Victoria project manager Juli Grauer said it would have been a bitter blow, particularly to the participants with a disability.

"We're obviously very disappointed - not just with the closure, but how it was done," Ms Grauer said.

"To get up in the morning and think you're going to work and then to receive an email telling you not to come, that would be devastating to anyone.

"The staff and participants need closure - to be able to work for a couple of weeks knowing it was coming - to debrief with their friends."

"They will be lost without the structure and routine."

Ms Grauer said she was disappointed there wasn't a call out to the community to support the catering business before Brophy Family and Youth Services announced the closure on January 8, 2024.

"It's really disappointing - Tasty Plate gave the participants a chance to gain experience and build their confidence - it also broke down so many barriers," she said.

Ms Grauer said she hoped other south-west businesses would offer the staff and participants jobs.

"They learnt these skills - I'd love to be able to see them use them at another business," she said.

The heartbroken mother of a participant told The Standard on Sunday her son Drew was devastated with the closure.

He had worked at Tasty Plate for 10 years and was thriving, she said.

"I don't know what he will do," she said.

"He loved Tasty Plate. He loved talking to the customers and he loved having a job.

"Every night he would put his clothes out and make his sandwich for lunch the next day."

Mrs Miller said she had written to Brophy to ask them why the decision was made and to ask what options there were for her son.

Mrs Miller said Drew was working towards a goal of living independently.

She said Tasty Plate had played a huge part in helping him move towards this goal.

He cooks one night at home and regularly shows his mother the correct way to make sandwiches.

"It's just terrible," Mrs Miller said of the closure.

"So much of Drew's life and the other participants is about routine.

"To have that routine taken away and for the parents to pick up the pieces - it's devastating."