UK: New coffee shop will support the homeless

A new social enterprise is being set up to rival coffee shop giants such as Starbucks and Costa and support homeless people. The enterprise is being established by homelessness charity Streetwork, based in Edinburgh. It will provide training opportunities for up to 40 homeless people from across the city to help them improve their employment prospects and get them off the streets. The charity has already run two successful pilot projects of the coffee shop and has now secured £272,000 (380,000 euro) of funding from the Scottish Executive to initially fund the new venture. It is currently looking to secure premises for the coffee shop and it is also planning to develop satellite units across Edinburgh. www.streetwork.org.uk