At the opening party at The North Star in Brighton last night (December 4), Nigella Lawson and Industry star Marisa Abela were named as the first patrons of Team Domenica.
Team Domenica is a Brighton charity which helps provide people with learning disabilities and autism with the skills to gain employment and independence.
The charity was founded in 2016 by Nigella Lawson’s sister-in-law, Baroness Rosa Monckton, and is named after Rosa’s daughter, Domenica Lawson, who has Down syndrome.
Team Domenica has training cafes in Jubilee Library, on Preston Road and on Lewes Road.
The North Star, which is in the Pavilion Buildings, will be its first training pub – having formerly been an All Bar One.
The party in full flow (Image: The Argus)
Ms Lawson told The Argus she loves Brighton and has spent a great deal of time in the city over the years.
This was in part because her grandmother lived in Rottingdean “a hundred years ago”, she quipped.
She said she was impressed by the team’s work transforming the site so quickly.
“I think it’s absolutely extraordinary and I can’t quite believe it could have been done so quickly because they started in September,” she said. “When you’re doing a bathroom at home, if you started in September, you wouldn’t be done by now.
“The atmosphere is both cosy but has a certain elegance. I know they’re going for a bit of a 1930s feel. It looks rather beautiful.
“I love a booth; the booths are good because it can become a meeting place.
“With a venture like this it’s fantastic and a mission of enrichment for the young people with learning difficulties, but it does also enrich the community.
“This is true for all successful restaurants; you need to be a place where visitors come but also a place where locals return to – it has that kind of feel to me.”
Nigella Lawson (Image: The Argus)
In a speech given to a room packed with people, she said she was “thrilled” to be a patron and praised Rosa as an “incredible powerhouse”.
She said: “She realised something needed to get done and no one else was going to do it, so she was bloody well going to do it.”
She finished her speech with a toast to the pub, saying: “To the North Star, may it shine brightly as a pub as it is tonight, and may those who train here shine brightly too.”
Ms Lawson was joined by Marisa Abela, who grew up in Brighton and recently got married in the city.
She came into the contact with the charity through her “best friend” who is Rosa’s niece and introduced her to Domenica.
“Domenica and I hit it off and we became friends,” she told The Argus.
“We speak a lot over text and I love her. When Rosa asked me if it was something I would be interested in, it was an immediate yes.
“I come to Brighton a lot and I’m very passionate about the community here and passionate about the fact I was privileged to have an upbringing in an open, accepting, generous and loving place – and it made me understand immediately why all of the ventures Team Domenica do work so well in Brighton.
“The thing about pubs, the reason why they’re such a pillar of British communities is because they are a place for people to meet and be social and have fun.
“Of course, cafes are like that too, but they’re slightly more of a quiet space whereas there is something so lively about a pub.
“Every time I’m with Domenica specifically, I’m bowled over by her vibrancy and vitality. A pub is the perfect place to personify that.”
She added that the people who work with the charity “deserve purpose like we all do and they’re more than capable”.
Marisa Abela (Image: The Argus)
In a speech, Ms Abela said her first job, at 18, had been at a pub “round the corner from here”.
“What it did for me was give me a sense of purpose, a sense of responsibility – I need to get up in the morning – and it embedded me in the foundations of my community,” she said.
“It’s going to bring a lot of joy to Brighton, and I know Brighton is the perfect place to open the North Star with open arms.
“When I first met Rosa, I was inspired by her ability to uplift and champion a cause so close to her heart.
“When I met Dominica I was even more inspired by [her].
“You are kind and thoughtful and intelligent and wonderful – and naughty. I would be in this pub every single day if I knew I would be here with you.
“Brighton is all the richer for this pub and I’m all the richer for having you as a friend.”
Baroness Rosa Monckton in front of The North Star (Image: The Argus)
Attendees at the event also heard from two graduates of Team Domenica’s training programme.
Ollie, who works at a hotel, said the training had given him confidence and that he had made friends through the programme.
“I’m really proud to have a job where I get paid. I’m saving my money because I’d like to go on holiday with my friends,” he said.
“I’m a little jealous of the candidates who will train in such a beautiful pub.”
Ronnie, who works behind the bar at Bill’s, said the training programme “gave me the chance to try lots of new things and work out what I’m good at and what I enjoy doing.”
“The great thing is earning my own money and being independent,” he said.
To find out more about the charity’s work, visit teamdomenica.com