How Starbucks EMEA partners gave back to local communities during Global Month of Good
Every April, Starbucks EMEA partners up with local charities to give back to the many communities around us through a number of volunteering projects. It’s part of the Starbucks promise we upkeep every day – to contribute positively to every community we serve.
Catch just some of the highlights from this year’s Global Month of Good – from the UK to Italy – now.
Since 2011, Ebony Horse Club has used the joy of horse riding to improve the education, life skills, wellbeing and aspirations of young people from disadvantaged communities in Lambeth, south London. Not only is it a place for horse riding lessons, but it’s a space where friendships are formed. To mark the second year of our partnership, Starbucks partners supported the much-needed renovation of the club. While some partners tackled painting, building furniture and tidying inside, others helped to fix fencing and put their gardening skills to the test to ensure the clubs outside area was spick and span.
You can’t focus on sustainability without a bit of litter picking! While partners in London grabbed their gloves and orange sacks and headed out around the EMEA Support Centre in an effort to tidy up their surroundings, Starbucks partners in Oslo and Bergen took to local parks on the hunt for litter. Well done to the teams for making a noticeable difference in the cleanliness of their community’s shared spaces!
The Starbucks Reserve Roastery Milano is no stranger to a coffee tasting. However, this April, a very different tasting took place under the Roastery’s roof – involving honey! Regional honey production association Apilombardia stopped by the Roastery to teach partners how to taste honey, coffee, and how to protect not only bees, but plants and the local environment.
Since 2021, the Roastery have proudly supported Lombardy’s beekeeper community, donating coffee bags made from jute (a natural fabric made from the fibres of the jute plant) which are recycled to be used in the honey collection process.
Partners took to Walthamstow Wetlands, Huckerby’s Meadow and Crane Park Island this month to make a positive difference to London’s green spaces. Operated by the London Wildlife Trust, during these Wild Workdays Starbucks partners cut hay and grass, conducted wildlife surveys to monitor the number of species in the area, improved the habitats for the local wildlife and removed any invasive species, improving the space’s biodiversity.
Together with the team from Starbucks Italian licensee partner Percassi, Starbucks Reserve Roastery Milano partners headed to the warehouse of Pane Quotidiano – a non-profit organisation based in Milan – to support in preparing and giving bags of food supplies and other essential items to local people in need (around 2,000-5,000 people per day). Pane Quotidiano was supported by the Global Community Impact Grant from the Starbucks Foundation in 2023.
While the Global Month of Good may have passed for another year, good things continue to happen as Starbucks teams are encouraged to support local causes and work to improve the communities that surround them.
