WDP and SEND Coffee partner up to help rough sleepers

Leading drug and alcohol charity WDP has teamed up with SEND Coffee, a not-for-profit organisation that hires and helps people with special needs or disabilities into jobs in the coffee industry, to offer rough sleepers in Camden the opportunity to enjoy hot drinks in a friendly and welcoming local coffee shop.

SEND Coffee’s site at Camden Road overland station, Hidden Coffee Roasters, will be offering people who are rough sleeping and engaging with WDP’s INROADS Camden service to visit and get a hot drink, in exchange for Capital Card points.

WDP’s INROADS service provides intensive street support across both Camden and Islington for rough sleepers aged 18+ who are experiencing drug or alcohol issues and are currently unable to cope with attending structured treatment services.

The Capital Card® is an award-winning reward card scheme which empowers WDP’s service users and helps them on their recovery journey. They can earn points by engaging in drug and alcohol treatment and spend their points on positive activities and products in their local community. Full details of the offer at Hidden Coffee Roasters and all other spend options are available at capitalcardrewards.com.

Yasmin Batliwala, Chair of WDP, said: “We are delighted to welcome SEND Coffee into our Spend Partner family. Collaboration with SEND Coffee will enable us to develop a partnership based on common values focusing on the needs of marginalised and isolated communities. The simple pleasure of enjoying a coffee together with their peers will provide the users of our services an opportunity to benefit from companionship which most of us take for granted. We look forward to working together with SEND.”

Dominique Spencer, Operations Director at SEND Coffee, said: “We are thrilled to be working with WDP and Capital Card! We are a social enterprise that works primarily with young adults that have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), however we are always on the lookout for ways to level up and extend our support to the wider community. We feel that this partnership is not only a no-brainer for us but is a crucial contributor to building a stronger support network for rough sleepers in the Camden borough, both for existing service users and future service users. We are proud to be part of this initiative and we welcome one and all for a coffee, any time!”

About SEND Coffee

SEND Coffee is a non-profit organisation on a mission to train those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities to become professional baristas in the speciality coffee industry.

During internships at our three London coffee shops, our learners are trained on a 1-to-1 basis with a dedicated mentor on a range of life skills, ancillary skills and, of course, barista skills. When the internship comes to an end, we support our learners in finding paid positions in speciality coffee shops (and beyond).

We also roast and sell our own beans! 100% of profits from coffee sales go back into funding our internships for our students.

For more information about SEND Coffee, visit sendcoffee.co.uk.

If you have any questions about our organisation, our partnerships, or our internship programme, reach out to our founder Harry at harry@sendcoffee.co.uk. If you are interested in stocking our coffee or would like to know more about how you can work with us, reach out to Dominique at dominique@sendcoffee.co.uk.