At Old Spike, coffee is how we create practical routes into employment for people experiencing homelessness.
Every month, our Impact Team works with people through our Barista Training and Employment Programme – building skills, confidence and experience that can help take the next step towards work.
Here’s what that looked like in August.
12 taster days, 11 training graduates and 120 hours of work
12 people joined us for taster days in August, getting an introduction to coffee, hospitality and the opportunities available through our programme.
11 people completed their barista training, a three day intensive developing practical skills across coffee preparation, customer service, and hospitality.
And three people graduated from the full programme. For us, graduating means completing the training and a three-week paid placement, giving participants the chance to put their new skills into practice in a real working environment.
In total, we funded 120 hours of work in August, helping create those important first steps into employment.
Taking training into the community
We also took our barista training beyond our cafés this month, hosting a session at Euston Food Bank in collaboration with Havas.
It was a great opportunity to introduce people to practical barista skills in a community setting, while continuing to build relationships with organisations supporting people across London.
The team also visited Pilgrim’s Hub in Southwark for an employability event, meeting people interested in joining our training programme and starting conversations about what their next steps could look like.
Making our impact visible
August also saw the launch of our Impact Dashboard at our Southwark café.
For the first time, you can see the impact your purchases are helping to create, with the numbers updating transactions go through.
It’s a simple way of making something that can otherwise feel quite distant, much more tangible. Every coffee bought contributes to the wider work we do to create training and employment opportunities for people experiencing homelessness — and now, you can see that impact happening in real time.
Looking ahead
There’s always more to do, but August was another month of people learning new skills, gaining paid experience and moving closer to employment.
And now, with our Impact Dashboard live, we can make those numbers easier for everyone to see.
Every number represents a real person, a new skill learnt, or a step towards employment.