New Liverpool coffee shop provides training to city’s homeless
Papercup Coffee is the brainchild of charity founder Michelle Langan
A charity which has supported rough sleepers on Liverpool’s streets for almost six years, today opened a new coffee shop that will train homeless people to learn barista and customer service skills.
The shop, which is based in the city’s popular Queen’s Square, is the brainchild of Michelle Langan, a writer turned social impact entrepreneur. She founded the Paper Cup Project in 2016 to offer warm food and drinks to people living on the streets.
Starting out as a team of just two people with a bag of sandwiches and a flask, it has grown into a fully-fledged registered charity providing outreach services across the whole of Liverpool.
“I started Paper Cup because I felt that people who were sleeping rough weren’t being heard; they were voiceless, and being on the streets carries a lot of stigma,” says Langan.
An army of volunteers now regularly offers food, support, clothing and company to the Liverpool’s most vulnerable as well as linking them up with statutory services to get them the help that they need. Well-wishers and local businesses regularly provide food and donations.
She first had the idea for a coffee shop five years ago, after being inspired a similar store in London which provided employment to people who had experienced homelessness.
“We were doing our outreach work every week and you get to identify where there’s a gap in services. The gap that I could see was there was accommodation for people but there wasn’t really anything to bridge that gap to get people working again,” Langan told the Guide Liverpool.
“I thought that was the next step for us, to fill that gap and look at giving people training opportunities which would build their confidence. The idea was in the back of my head for a long time but then it was a question of getting the charity to the point where we were able to do that.”
It’s taken 18 months of hard work to get the Papercup Coffee up and running. The store will provide an additional income stream for the charity and offer a training centre for those who have experiences homelessness. Langan hopes that by providing people with new skills, they can go on to gain employment at the coffee shop or in other local hospitality businesses.
She told the Liverpool Echo: "Upstairs we are going to have a training area, where we can help people to learn new skills and also build their confidence, which is a massive thing for people who have lost their homes or ended up on the streets."
"The hope is that we will be able to employ people here but also that we can give others the skills they need to get work in cafes and restaurants elsewhere in the city.”
Speaking a few days before the opening, Langan added: "It has been a stressful time, this project has taken over my life, but we can't wait to open now."
She’s grateful to all those who have volunteered time and donations, including a £10,000 coffee machine, and the team from global agriculture firm Cargill who helped revamp the shop from a disused pub to must-visit coffee shop.
Papercup Coffee is located at 2 Queen Square, Liverpool L1 1RH. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram