Soft drinks company, Britvic plc has pledged its support to Only A Pavement Away as the charity prepares to open training cafes on high streets across the UK.
In a generous move following the recent announcement by the charity of its latest initiative, Britvic has agreed to provide all the soft drinks needed for the cafes, which will offer training and employment opportunities to people facing homelessness, prison leavers and veterans.
Launching this spring, Only A Pavement Away training cafés will be open to the public and fully staffed by individuals who want to rebuild their lives through a career in the hospitality industry.
Those employed at the cafés will be given on-the-job training from practised management teams and will receive valuable experience working in a customer-focused, food-service environment. All profits made will support those working in the cafe.
The ultimate goal is to have an Only A Pavement Away cafe in ten cities by the end of the year to train as many people as possible and help them find employment in the sector, but this can only happen with backing from the wider industry and businesses such as Britvic.
Adam Russell, Director of Foodservice & Licenced at Britvic, said, “When we heard that Only A Pavement Away was looking for businesses to bring its cafe concept to life, we knew that we had to do what we could to help.
“Giving people the opportunity to kick-start their careers, or to turn their lives around, is incredibly important to us as a business, and we feel extremely motivated to do all we can to give these people a fresh start.”
Greg Mangham, Founder of Only A Pavement Away, said, “We are hugely grateful and thankful for the support offered by Britvic - they have made a significant contribution towards the workings of our training cafes and this will make a big difference to so many people.
“Our cafes can only thrive through industry partnerships like this so if you have a site, or a piece of kit or a skill or resource that can help make our cafes a reality, then do get in touch. Our target is to place 250 people into work within the hospitality industry in 2022 - please do commit to helping us make this a reality.”