Change Please is a London social enterprise that turns 'a cup of coffee' into a step off the street. In 2015, Cemal Ezel, unable to bear walking past homeless people asking for coins in a coffee cup, decided to link the $80 billion coffee industry with homelessness to solve it. Starting from one cart in Covent Garden (with early support from the Big Issue), it now has over 10 shops in London and a training school in Peckham. It trains people who have experienced homelessness as SCA-standard baristas, gives them jobs paying the London Living Wage, and walks alongside them through housing, mental health (therapy), financial literacy, a bank account, and their next job. 100% of coffee profit is reinvested in the mission, with no dividends or executive bonuses. It wholesales to 350 Sainsbury's stores, WeWork and David Lloyd, and in 2024 signed a £1 million partnership with Nespresso. In 2023 alone it supported 1,550 people who had experienced homelessness, and over 79% of those who completed training went into continuous employment.
●●○ medium
There is no confirmed −; independently verified + decide the position (B). No unreachable strike-through.= non-additive meter
Change Please (CIC + Foundation): A cup of coffee, a step off the street. The letter is B; certainty is medium. Unconfirmed concerns are placed under “Watching.” (As of 2026-Q3; estimate based on public information.)
Main narrative
One person’s story (N1)
+ A single story
In 2015, Lucy was selling the Big Issue on Tooley Street near London Bridge—ready to step into long-term work but without a foothold. Trained at Change Please, she became a full-time barista and eventually ran a coffee van at Canary Wharf. The benefit appears as the collective of people who have experienced homelessness—like Lucy—trying to take one more step from the street or precarious circumstances.
Source nature: Big Issue / P2 Independent (Big Issue). Positive effects are not used to offset negatives.
Positive / negative effects
+ effects
- Founded in London in 2015. It trains people who have experienced homelessness as SCA-standard baristas with living-wage jobs plus housing/therapy/financial literacy/next-job support. 100% of profit to the mission, no dividends/executive bonuses. Over 10 London shops + 350 Sainsbury's stores, etc. Over 79% of graduates in continuous employment, 286 became baristas (2 years), 1,550 supported in 2023. Across the UK/Ireland/France/US/Australia.P2 Independent (Social Investment Business) / Social Investment Business
− effects (confirmed)
- No confirmed −.
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- Expansion to other UK/Ireland cities and the US (SF/NY/LA); expanding Driving for Change (a mobile unit bringing medical/dental/digital financial literacy to the most vulnerable).
A second look
The plus is living-wage jobs, housing, mental-health support and independence for people who have experienced homelessness (People), backed by mission-locking (CIC + charity) putting 100% of profit toward the mission, 79% continuous employment among graduates, and independents like the Big Issue, Social Investment Business and Nespresso. Caveats: about 85% of funding is loans/investment, so there is commercial repayment pressure; it depends on the fiercely competitive coffee-retail market; and the scale of support is limited relative to the UK homelessness crisis (about 110,000 households in temporary accommodation at the end of 2023).
Sources
How to read this assessment
- Reachable upper bound (ceiling): a confirmed − sets the ceiling, and independently verified + decide the position within it. + do not cancel out −.
- The weight of evidence is not symmetric: only confirmed − are counted; the volume of disputes or allegations goes under “Watching.” + are counted from independent evidence, while an organization’s own PR is treated as “reference.”
- Size is not value: scale is not used in the assessment. Matters that stay within money or competition—investors, shareholders, sanctions, trade secrets—are also excluded.
- The letter (assessment) and certainty (how reliable the information is) are separate axes.
This is a translation; the Japanese version is authoritative. The assessments here are generated automatically by AI based on published criteria. The operator does not alter individual results. Because they are AI-generated they may contain errors, and they are opinion and commentary, not statements of fact. Where evidence is insufficient, the entry is marked “On hold.” Requests for correction are accepted via the form.
Terms: Narrative Value = an assessment (A–G) of the distance between the story an organization tells and its reality / Ceiling meter = a visualization of the reachable upper bound / Watching = unconfirmed matters not counted / Protected stakeholders = people, animals, nature, and future generations. | Generated by: AI | As of: 2026-Q3 | Back to top