We know where to find the best coffee in London. It’s not in a converted Victorian warehouse nor in a concept store on Hackney Road. It won’t come cold-pressed or shaken in a martini. And don’t expect any matcha lattes either. It will, however, be served by someone who use to be homeless, meaning your daily dose of caffeine could help to improve someone’s life. We don’t know about you but we think that’s much sweeter than a few cubes of sugar (and a shot of hazelnut syrup).
Coffee vans will hit the streets this week, selling £2.50 cups of speciality coffee sourced from Columbia, Tanzania and Rwanda. Staffed by Big Issue vendors, the baristas will receive the London living wage (recently increased to £9.15 per hour), as well as sufficient training to help with their transition into more established coffee houses after the six month scheme. The not-for-profit organisation behind the project, called Change Please, will underwrite tenancies for the workers, who would otherwise struggle to persuade landlords to let them rent a property.
Changing lives from the back of a #coffee cart. Empowered by @BigIssue. #ChangePlease https://t.co/sW8xo0KAWO pic.twitter.com/1zex555nZ3
— Change Please (@ChangePlease) November 23, 2015
Whilst a takeaway coffee has become an increasingly popular go-to for Londoners in the morning, sleeping rough rose by 37% in the capital last year. By simply changing where we get our caffeine fix, Change Please believes that we could help to change the world.
Now there’s a better way to start to the day.