Date started: April 2015
Website: www.changeplease.org
Twitter: @changeplease
Location: London

Change Please is tackling homelessness by tapping into our growing coffee culture. Founder Cemal Ezel realised that the hordes of people clutching their lattes and flat whites represented an opportunity to provide those most in need with vital skills and opportunities.

To this end, he has coffee vans in six premium sites in London, using them to train and employ on average four homeless people a month. They are moved on to employment with one of Change Please’s partners after six months.

Cemal is focused on achieving as much impact as possible; a recent partnership will see Centrepoint take on more training on behalf of Change Please, meaning the social enterprise will be able to help more homeless 18-25 year olds by getting them into work faster.

The next step for Change Please may be across the pond: Richard Branson recently invited Cemal to Necker Island for a mentoring trip, and with Branson’s help, Cemal is now looking to help solve the problem of homelessness in places such as San Francisco and LA by developing a social franchising scheme.