“Good morning, welcome!”. Andrea, 21 years old, welcomes journalists with a smile, lengthening a tray with slices of bread and salami prepared together with Silvia. Andrea, suffering from Trisomy 21, known as Down syndrome, is one of the members of the Cooperative Social Company Ape’n Down. Silvia Bigagnoli, 46, is the president. Two “social irreverent” to put it with the subtitle of the logo of this coop, born to break down mental barriers on disability and generate inclusion.
An all -Veronese adventure, the result of a volunteering project started years ago to raise funds in the festivals by serving coffee and drinks and make social awareness, and recently landed within some of the most prestigious reviews of Veronafiere and the Hellas Vip room at the Verona stadium.
“We started in 2023 with Fiera Cavalli – Silvia says – then in January 2024 our boys distributed coffee at the Motor Bike Expo and, to follow, at the Vinitaly 2024”. This year, the encore in the Vinitaly press room, but this time as a cooperative social enterprise on behalf of Mr., the chain of wine bars with kitchen that has had the service in a custody.
In life, Silvia deals with quality control. The Coop Ape’n Down was born in November 2024 after a long experience in the “Happy Hour” volunteering group of which it is part and from which everything began. “The cooperative – he explains – wants to give these children a future and combine multiple levels of intervention: training, accompaniment to work and awareness between businesses and schools”.
An ambitious project that involves people with Down syndrome together with their family members, volunteers, psychotherapists and also entrepreneurs because among the members of the cooperative there are the owners of two Veronese companies: Ilmur Caffè and Mister Bubbles, the first born from a roasting and specialized in the production of quality coffee capsules and, the second, single -dose cocktail manufacturer. “The constitution of the social company has allowed us to hire a boy and a girl as employees of the Coop and to start training courses in the catering with specialized personnel to define other work insertions – explains Silvia – for us the training does not end with the courses, it is a more complex path that also involves families and businesses. It does not end with a certificate, we are up to the complete autonomy of the boys within the working context”.
One thing is certain: at Vinitaly 2025 the Ape’n Down service was impeccable. The courteous smile, the attention and dedication of Andrea as Di Gaia, 23 years old and a passion for blue who also colors a tuft of his hair, have met the general favor. At the moment, the members of Ape’n Down are 7, the families involved 21 In addition to Andrea and Gaia, employees of the cooperative, Coop is about to complete the path of hiring of two other boys in as many local companies. A beautiful story in the name of work and love. Verona docet.
