A Liverpool café has been “blown away” by a “kind gesture” following the response to a tweet asking for help.
Paper Cup Coffee in Queen Square is run by the charity Paper Cup Project which supports the city's homeless community. The coffee shop offers training for people who have experienced homelessness and also has a ‘pay it forward’ scheme, allowing customers to buy food or drinks for those sleeping rough.
The café relies on customers and their generosity when purchasing a coffee or a slice of cake, but last week was particularly tough for the team. On Friday, May 20, Paper Cup Coffee tweeted: “Very slow day for us today. Please come and support us if you are in town tomorrow or next week and fancy a coffee and some cake. We can only carry on the work we do if we have customers through the door.”
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The message received over a thousand retweets which led to a “kind gesture” from Bootle-born novelist and screenwriter, Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Michelle Langan from Paper Cup Coffee told the ECHO: “Friday was a really slow day - we didn’t sell one item of food. We sold a few drinks, but that was it, so we were feeling downbeat. I did a tweet to say to people that if they can support us, it would be great, as obviously we can only keep the doors open if we’ve got customers.
“The tweet got a lot of traction and one of our followers shared it with Frank. The next minute I got a message from him saying, ‘would it help if I paid for 100 coffees which you can give out on Saturday to get people through the door?’ I was blown away. He shared it on his social media and said, ‘if you’re in town tomorrow, have a coffee on me at Paper Cup Coffee’.
“We had a busy day on Saturday and it just went wild. The tweet was also shared by Tim Burgess from the band The Charlatans and food critic Grace Dent. We had a few people come in on Saturday who had never been in before which is absolutely brilliant. A lot of people tweeted to say they enjoyed it so they will be back, and that’s what we need.
“It was great what Frank did because he gave us a whole new customer base. That support of him sharing it helped us with people who may not have known where we were or what we do. Twitter is great for this kind of thing. It's someone doing such a kind gesture to not just treat other people but to help us by getting customers in. It was really lovely.”
Michelle has also set up a virtual ‘pay it forward’ scheme for those wanting to help Paper Cup Coffee but don't live nearby. She explained: “We had a lot of people saying they don’t live in Liverpool but they’d like to buy a hot drink for someone who is homeless, so I set up the virtual scheme. We already have a ‘pay it forward’ scheme in the café, so when people buy a coffee or a sandwich, they can also pay for a hot drink or food which can be redeemed by someone who is experiencing homelessness.
“The virtual ‘pay it forward’ scheme is at just over £2,000 and that’s since setting it up on Friday. We’ve got a lot of regular customers now who are homeless and they know they can come into this safe space and sit down with no judgement and have their food or drink. The money from the scheme also goes towards our Monday outreach session where our team goes out and gives out food, drinks and clothing.”
Michelle hopes people will continue to support the café following this recent boost. She continued: “If you’re in town and you want a coffee or cake, you can go anywhere, but if you come into Paper Cup Coffee, you’re not only buying a hot drink or food, your money is being invested in the future of someone to give them a chance.
“You’re helping them to get back into work which is really important. Your money isn’t going to a corporation, you are spending your money in a way that is really benefiting someone else and giving them a chance of a successful future.”
Paper Cup Coffee is at 2 Queen Square, Liverpool, L1 1RH and is open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 3pm. You can donate to the virtual 'pay it forward' scheme here.
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