UK Coffee Week

UK Coffee Week – an opportunity to have fun while raising money to help millions of people in coffee-growing communities.

Did you know that globally more than 500 billion cups of coffee are consumed every year? Yet many of the people who grow the coffee beans that we depend on for our daily fix don’t have access to clean drinking water.

UK Coffee Week’s key purpose is to raise awareness of the lives of these coffee-growers and over the past eight years it has raised over £1 million, helping more than 40,000 people in coffee-growing countries such as Kenya, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda & Vietnam, who previously lacked access to clean drinking water and sanitation. Ethiopia is in the greatest crisis. A shocking seventy-five per cent of Ethiopia’s population don’t have clean water and worse still, ninety-five per cent lack access to sanitation.  

This year, UK Coffee Week, which runs from 29 April to 5 May, will be raising funds for Project Waterfall’s four year project, in partnership with WaterAid, to bring clean water and sanitation to 7,000 people in the rural Jabi Tehnan district of Ethiopia, where 38% of the population make their living from coffee.

So who’s involved in UK Coffee Week?

Leaders from across the coffee industry have signed up to UK Coffee Week, including coffee roasters, flavoured syrup producers and several coffee house chains, both large and small. In addition there are already over 1,000 independent cafes committed to raising funds and awareness.

Should we take part?

Of course you should!

Not only is it a great excuse to celebrate coffee but research has shown that almost 70% of consumers want to see their favourite coffeeshops and cafes taking part in an initiative that goes directly to the heart of the coffee industry.

To participate you need to register here. It costs £25 per store (up to 3 outlets) and £20 each for 4-9 outlets. This fee helps fund the campaign and ensures that every penny donated by consumers goes directly to the project. It will also ensure you get a full fundraising pack so you can promote what you’re doing.

How you fundraise is entirely up to you – you could simply donate 10p from every coffee sold or you could involve your whole team in any of these brilliant fundraising ideas. Whatever you decide, it will give your customers a chance to support Project Waterfall. All they have to do is enjoy a cup of coffee, knowing that they’re helping the brilliant work of Project Waterfall to continue.

And of course, they’ll need a slice of cake with their coffee! Take a look at our portioned, un-portioned and gluten-free cakes, and find all of our coffee shop products in our Coffee Shop Directory.

Don’t forget to spread the word about your UK Coffee Week fundraising @UKCoffeeWeek #ukcoffeeweek for Project Waterfall @projectwaterf

If you want to learn more about Project Waterfall check the website here