FCB Inferno Ask For Change, Please

Last November FCB Inferno London, along with The Big Issue, launched Change Please, a social enterprise created to train homeless men and women as baristas enabling them to sell coffee from mobile vans, while also providing them with temporary housing and the skills to enter full time employment.

Since the launch Change Please has sold over 78,000 cups of coffee, expanded from one to five sites across London employing 12 formerly homeless people as expert baristas.

The initiative is also in discussion with a major UK retailer to stock the coffee in its stores and to mark the success of the enterprise the above film, directed by Nice Shirt's Stuart Douglas has been created to demonstrates the idea behind the scheme and one barista’s journey.

The person in the film, Jatinder, was one of the scheme's first baristas and also featured in BBC One’s documentary Famous, Rich and Homeless where he demonstrated the harsh reality of homelessness in the UK. 

“I had been to the council trying to get accommodation, but had been told I wasn’t a priority," Jatinder explaines. "I was sleeping in a stairwell in a block of flats. Before this, I thought coffee was just pouring some water on to the Nescafe! But I had a couple of training days before Christmas and started working with Change Please full time at the start of this year. I saved up my wages and now rent a little room, it makes me smile every time I jump in the shower, or use the toaster, or open the fridge and take some food out to eat.

"This job has made it all possible. I have a lot to thank Change Please for. As the company grows, I hope to grow with it. I had forgotten what I was capable of – being homeless was taking up all my time. Being back in employment has brought out the best of me”