Starbucks launches UK Community Café support with Veterans charity in Newcastle

8th August, 2017; To support dedicated local community spaces, Starbucks today announces a new initiative to offer product donations to not-for-profit cafes. The launch kicks off with an innovative coffee truck, operated by North Tyneside’s veterans’ charity Forward Assist. The ‘Salute Coffee Truck’ is a converted army Land Rover vehicle, used in the Falklands War, and is now staffed by veterans trained at a local Starbucks store and serving its coffee.

Tony Wright, Founder of Forward Assist said: “Part of the work we do with veterans is helping to get them back to civilian life. By training our teams and creating these great opportunities with businesses like Starbucks, we can make a real impact on veterans’ lives, just like Alan has working at our Salute Coffee truck.”

Starbucks new Community Café programme, in partnership with Neighbourly.com, will enable not-for-profit cafés to order Starbucks products and collect from their local Starbucks store. These small charitable spaces, which are often embedded in their local communities, have experienced large falls in income from contracts between 2008-2009 and 2012-2013 (32 and 37 percent respectively).*

Nick Davies, Founder of Neighbourly.com said: "Community cafes have such a positive impact on their communities, from providing a hub for the local community, reducing social isolation, providing jobs and skills development and of course providing healthy eating options at low cost. From a survey of the Neighbourly community, 76 percent requested access to kitchenware items along with a universal request by food charities to have access to food and drink donations to help their resources go further, so support from businesses like Starbucks is significant and intrinsically linked to their survival."

The orderable Starbucks product donations include a range of items, from condiment shakers and milk steaming pitchers, to espresso coffee and syrups. Three more community spaces are also a part of this scheme for its official launch, including Oasis Hub Hobmoor in Birmingham, Oasis Academy in Bristol, and Maggie’s Centre in London, all proudly displaying the Starbucks Community Café logo.

Becca Haigh, Starbucks UK operations manager said: “It’s fantastic to launch this Community Café initiative with such a valued partner as Forward Assist. From working with them at the store I formerly managed in Newcastle, I witnessed first-hand the vital local work they do with veterans, and we’re really proud to support them and their Salute Coffee Truck.”

*Source: Institute of Public Policy Research - http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/cuts-public-funding-hit-smallest-charities-hardest-says-lloyds-foundation-research/finance/article/1382975.

Starbucks invites not-for-profit cafes around the UK to get in touch to apply for the Community Café scheme: www.neighbourly.com/CommunityCafe.

All product donations provided by Starbucks UK to community cafés will clearly display ingredients and safety food information. The products will be priced at each of the recipients’ discretion.

About Neighbourly

Neighbourly is an award-winning social platform that matches charities and community projects with people and companies that can help. It uses technology to connect and enable communities, individuals and organisations to help local causes through volunteering, financial and product donations.

As a founding partner, Starbucks has worked with Neighbourly since 2014 to deliver support to hundreds of local community causes across the UK. www.neighbourly.com/Starbucks