In line with government guidance and recent events, UK Coffee Week have taken the difficult decision to postpone their charity initiative for the second time (due to have taken place from 27th April to 3rd May).
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, UK Coffee Week has suffered from the closure of the hospitality market, their prime fundraising audience. Pubs, bars, hotels, coffee shops and cafes were all forced to close their doors, making it an impossibility to hold the usual annual fundraisers for UK Coffee Week’s partner charity, Project Waterfall.
This year’s UK Coffee Week fundraiser has been postponed until October, taking place between the 18th and 24th.
What is UK Coffee Week?
To recap, UK Coffee Week is seven days celebrating our love of coffee. The big idea is to raise much-needed funds for clean water and sanitation in coffee-growing communities around the world. The initiative is called Project Waterfall, and it’s run by the Allegra Foundation.
Since the first Coffee Week back in 2011, more than £800,000 has been raised for Project Waterfall, with the project itself raising over £1.5m. This money has provided clean water, sanitation and support to coffee growing communities across the world, such as Ethipia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Tanzania and Uganda, changing more than 50,000 lives.
What is Project Waterfall?
Project Waterfall is concerned with improving the lives of the families and workers who produce our Coffee, by developing clean water solutions, installing adequate sanitation systems and educating communities on basic hygiene.
Their approach is as follows:
Focused on Water
Access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a crucial step in breaking the poverty cycle as it underpins all other development issues.
Concentrated on Coffee-Growing Countries
The majority of coffee comes from developing countries where many people lack access to safe water. Project Waterfall is committed to supporting those who make our daily coffee possible.
Funding Sustainable Projects
All the projects Project Waterfall fund train local people who can continue to maintain the water source long after they have left, ensuring a permanent supply of clean water.
No Overpromising
Project Waterfall support projects that have a high-reach and long-lasting impact, and only commit to a project once they have secured the funds to see it through to its end.
100% Promise
Every single penny of public donations goes to funding clean water projects. This is thanks to corporate sponsorship which covers the charities running costs.
It’s not too late to register
How many times a day do you turn on the tap? It’s probably something you’ve never thought to count. And so long as you don’t leave it running unnecessarily, it doesn’t matter, either. The point is that in the UK we take access to clean, potable, safe water absolutely for granted. UK Coffee Week is encouraging coffee shops, eateries, pubs and the public to raise money for Project Waterfall.
During UK Coffee Week thousands of coffee shops and other food and drink outlets across the UK fundraise to help end the water crisis in many areas across the world, by donating a few pence of every coffee sold and holding additional fundraising drives and competitions.
Registration for this year’s UK Coffee Week opens in June, so it’s not too late to register your interest. If you follow the previous link, you’re able to sign up to their newsletter to receive updates in regard to the campaign, as well as get notified in June as soon as the registration process opens.
What you can do to raise money
The reassuring news is that 100% of any donations you make will go straight to projects at Project Waterfall. How you donate or raise funds is up to you. Since UK Coffee Week is now a few months away, you have time to plan your fundraising activities. To keep it simple, you could donate a percentage of profits taken during the week - or perhaps 5p, 10p or 15- per cup of coffee sold instead. You may also choose to have a collection pot next to your POS system, incentivising customers to support the scheme. Other fundraising ideas include more social activities such as coffee cocktail nights or latte art classes, however these will be covid permitting so best not to rely on them too heavily.
Alongside all this, you’ll want to get active on social media (like we haven’t nagged you about this before). Any or all of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter will be a great way to raise awareness and raise further funds. Make sure you post throughout the week. Use the hashtags #MyCupMatters and #ukcoffeeweek to share the positive message, highlight your coffee business’s involvement and share photos of your coffee creations. You could even run an online competition for followers – just make sure you get them to donate directly as well.
If you'd like to learn more about UK Coffee Week or Project Waterfall, please refer to the following links.