One Page Summary

Change Please want to help create a world where employers around the globe recognise the value in employing members of the homeless community.Our work also shows to the public, employers and business owners, the vast amount of skills, knowledge and experience of people experiencing homelessness.

Our ‘jobs-first’ approach offers a sustainable platform from which our beneficiaries can rebuild their lives.
Since launching in November 2015, we've seen a wonderful response to our work and we'd now like to open up a café to expand our operations, increase our impact, and to work towards our aim - to put an end to homelessness once and for all.

Who are Change Please?

Please see our pitch video here: https://youtu.be/TskCwTaqyAs

A video explaining our model: https://youtube.com/watch?v=rXRVQ8dHJcI

We are a social enterprise that train and employ homeless people to work as Baristas on our mobile coffee vans and at our fixed sites.

We’re a beneficiary focused organisation – our homeless Baristas are at the core of everything we do.
We pay Living Wage and offer support with housing by acting as guarantors, making direct payments and underwriting tenancies to ensure our Baristas’ living situations are secure.

We offer support with mental wellbeing, both as an organisation and through referrals to our partners, to ensure our Baristas have access to all of the services they require.

We also provide additional training in essentials like health and safety, cash handling and customer service, to equip our Baristas with the skills and experience necessary to progress into onward employment in higher paying roles.

How much of a problem is homelessness?

Since 2010 homelessness has almost doubled in the UK.

There are over 4000 homeless people in Manchester.

This is unacceptable.

Change Please are doing everything we can to reduce this number.

The impact of being homeless is completely devastating, resulting in physical and mental health issues, feelings of isolation, and numerous barriers that prevent those experiencing homelessness from getting back into employment.

According to Crisis UK:
• Only 2 percent of homeless people are in full-time employment
• 12 percent work part-time
• 57 percent have been unemployed for three years or more
• With an employment rate of just 15 percent, homeless people are five times less likely than the wider population to be in employment yet the vast majority of homeless people want to work either now (77%) or in the future (97%).

We believe that homeless people are being let down by society and a new cafe will help us to lift 12 people out of homelessness a year.

The focus shouldn’t be on removing the problem from the public eye, or on homeless people being a ‘problem to solve’.It should instead be on offering this group the help they need while encouraging the public to support companies with a social mission that will help to eradicate the problem…companies like Change Please.