Second Chance Café is such a nice idea. Situated in Stoke Newington (near Hackney in north west London), this non-profit community cafe is not a soup kitchen, but a small community business that lets people what they can. It then counts all the meals and pounds spent, donations given and volunteer hours worked, then publishes all the data each month, to help create a real inclusive feel in the area.
The café ticks along, thanks to a myriad of volunteers. Who between them cook, clean, wait on tables, manage and drive deliveries.
The café has served over 15,000 plant-based meals (mostly made from donated and upcycled ingredients) with a daily changing menu that usually includes soup, bread and hot drinks, plus cakes and bakes.
Pay-what-you-want cafés are swiftly taking off in England. Recently one opened up in the fairly affluent Kent town of Tunbridge Wells, serving vegetarian food donated by local shops with surplus ingredients. There are other ones springing up, from Hull to Essex.
Why Would Someone Pay What They Want?
Most people go into cafés, and hope to pay less than the menu price. And that would surely mean disaster for the cafe owners? Not so. Some very rich people are so into this idea that rather than give to charity, they go here instead. In California, one pay-as-you-go café had one customer pay $1 for a coffee – and someone paid over $100!
Obviously if cafés are run by volunteers, it helps. But most have to have a paid manager (like community shops) to stay afloat. Some like Denver’s SAME Cafe gives out free food, in exchange for regular volunteer hours.
