Happy Birthday Social Bite on The Strand!

We opened our doors on The Strand, Westminster – our first coffee shop outside of Scotland – in March 2022, making us the first social enterprise coffee shop in central London. Below are some pictures of that amazing launch day one year ago, and what a year it’s been!

A huge thank you to all our amazing customers who chose to ‘Pay It Forward’ by purchasing a meal or a hot drink for someone experiencing homelessness over the last year. So far, over £12,000 has been donated by customers, marking our continued commitment and passion for positive change to end homelessness through pioneering programmes.

We are so grateful to work with some amazing London charity partners, including The Connection at St Martin’s and The Passage, who have helped us distribute these meals around the City of Westminster in the form of vouchers that can be redeemed directly from the coffee shop.

Thank you to these amazing organisations for the kind words they have shared as we mark this milestone:

“Social Bite are a key partner of The Connection in our mission to end homelessness. Homelessness is not just about a lack of appropriate and affordable housing – there are so many other factors that fuel it, including food poverty. By partnering with Social Bite, we are able to use their ‘pay it forward scheme’ to bring food to some of the most marginalised people in Westminster. By providing ‘meal deal vouchers’, we’re able to empower the people our outreach team support in a way that attending other food initiatives doesn’t. They can go into the Social Bite Cafe and ‘buy’ food – just like anyone else would when dropping in somewhere for a bite to eat. It’s not a place where only people experiencing hardship go, it’s a regular cafe, and providing this experience doesn’t just alleviate hunger, it brings the person back into a world they’re usually excluded from. The pay it forward scheme is also a fantastic way to build relationships with the people we are working with – a keywork session is always made better with a hot drink and a (very tasty) bite to eat!” – The Connection at St Martin’s

“The Passage is delighted to have the ongoing support of Social Bite and their partners. The donated Social Bite cafe vouchers create more opportunities for The Passage’s Community Intervention Team to engage with people that are sleeping rough or have complex support needs. Going for a coffee or sharing a meal with someone is much less confrontational than chatting on the street; so, going to the café with clients helps our team to break down barriers and build rapport, enabling further engagement in our support services and ultimately routes off the street. The staff in the Social Bite café have worked hard to build up a very inclusive and community feel, so no matter your background or circumstances, customers feel more relaxed and comfortable when dropping by.

In addition to the vouchers, through Social Bite’s fantastic Festival of Kindness initiative, we have received funding to provide over 1,000 hot meals to people experiencing homelessness in Westminster this Winter.” – The Passage

We are also thrilled to have been able to offer employment and training opportunities to people experiencing homelessness in London as part of the Jobs First programme, which we rolled out at the same time as opening our coffee shop on The Strand.

Jobs First supports people who have experienced barriers to employment, including homelessness, with tailored wrap-around support to sustain employment and break the cycle of homelessness. So far, 9 individuals have been placed in roles through the programme in London – including Bola who works around 20 hours a week at our coffee shop on the Strand.

Bola (61) had been homeless for about two months before hearing about Social Bite from another homelessness charity, and is now a valued member of our team: “this really is a dream job for me, I love serving and chatting to the customers. The training that I receive from Social Bite has not only helped me to learn new skills but has also given me more confidence both in work and outside. And it’s this training that I am keen to develop so that I can learn even more.”

Our Co-Founder, Josh, said: “Launching our first coffee shop outside of Scotland was a huge landmark for us and to be able to operate a similar model to Scotland and grow our impact work throughout London has been a vital part of this next step. From employing staff who come from a background of homelessness, to offering a daily free food service which is powered by our customers choosing to Pay it Forward in-store, our coffee shops are at the heart of our work. And today we want to thank our London customers who have chosen our Social Bite Coffee Shop and have contributed to the mission of ending homelessness.”

The launch of The Strand coffee shop came as a result of our amazing long-term partnership with Coutts and BaxterStorey. We’re so grateful for all their support, without them, all of this would not have been possible!

To celebrate our birthday, today we’ll be serving free party cake and celebratory soft drinks to toast to the milestone . You can also get any cake for just £1 with every coffee purchased for the next week.