A London coffee company staffed by homeless people is now launching kiosks at central London Tube stations following the success of its venture at Clapham Common.
Change Please launched at Goodge Street station this week, with another kiosk mooted for Piccadilly Circus station.
Founded in 2015, Change Please is a social enterprise which trains homeless people to become baristas at its carts, eventually supporting them into the workplace in similar roles.
One worker, Adan Abobaker, helped launch the Goodge Street kiosk. He had previously slept rough for 12 years. He told the Standard: “I don’t think I would have survived much longer. It basically saved my life.”
The new kiosk is yards from Whitfield Gardens, a small park which is a known location for rough sleeping. A man, believed to have been homeless, was found dead in the park in August last year.
Meanwhile, research published by Crisis in December last year found London accounted for 25 per cent of the nation’s homeless population, with 6,180 people on the streets or sleeping on public transport.
Mr Abobaker started working for the company 18 months ago after being introduced to its founder, Cemal Ezel, following more than a decade of rough sleeping around Borough Market.
“He got my number,” Mr Abobaker recalled, “we met up, and I got a job. Within a few days I was in a hostel. I was wearing clean clothes. I was clean shaven. I was able to have a shower. I had food in my stomach.
“I am now on the waiting list for a council flat. It has given me my dignity back. I can communicate with people on a social level. I have a normal life again.
“The winters are getting harder and harder and I don’t think I would have survived much longer. So Change Please has basically saved my life. It’s been a great influence.
“It saves lives, it helps society, it builds the economy and the coffee is great. You can’t go wrong!”
