This year UK Coffee Week ran from the 22–28 April and brought together a variety of product offerings, activities and public events (including the London Coffee Festival) – all in aid of Project Waterfall. Project Waterfall aims to improve the lives of those living in African coffee-growing countries by giving them better access to clean water through hygiene and sanitisation. Sickness from unclean water is a constant threat for places like Tanzania, where only 54% of the population have access to a clean water source. Even then, these people sometimes have to walk up to 2 hours a day just to reach a clean source of water. So really, this week is in aid of a fantastic cause.
UK Coffee Week launched in 2011 and has grown considerably since then. In 2012 over 300 thousand people were involved from supporters and sponsors to fundraisers and organisers. The flagship initiative of the UK Coffee Week is Coffee@Work, which encourages workplaces who enjoy coffee as part of their working day to fundraise for Project Waterfall – the workplace initiative is sponsored by popular coffee brand Kenco. In addition to the Coffee@Work initiative there are a variety of other ways to fundraise during the week; consumers are asked to make a voluntary 5p donation when they purchase coffee at participating vendors, participating coffee operators offer to match consumer donations as well as making their own corporate donations and participating venues offer spaces to hold fundraising events such as bake sales and karaoke nights. Coffee@Work ties in nicely with Eden Springs's WellBeing and Energy@Work initiatives, which stress the value of drinks and beverages at work for motivation, energy and health.
UK Coffee Week happily coincides with the London Coffee Festival which takes place from the 25–28 April this year. The Festival celebrates London’s thriving coffee scene and brings together coffee enthusiasts, professional baristas, independent coffee shop owners and coffee experts to share their experiences and love of coffee. There are also coffee/food matchings, a scientific coffee lab, demonstrations and live entertainment throughout the festival. You can get the ball rolling for 2014's UK Coffee Week by organising a Kenco coffee machine for your office and requesting a Coffee@Work sign-up pack. Don’t just let coffee be your guilty pleasure – make it count!
