Compass Group UK & Ireland has been working with Southend Hospital for 20 years and offers retail services alongside patient dining. A new look café has opened to provide visitors with a range of hot and cold drinks alongside a variety of food including paninis, sandwiches and snacks as well as fruit.
Russell Blake, managing director of hospitals and senior living at Compass Group UK & Ireland – Healthcare, said: “Compass Group UK & Ireland is part of the Buy Social Corporate Challenge – committing to supporting social enterprises and increasing spend with them.
“Compass has worked with Change Please for several years, helping 75 people out of homelessness – so we’re thrilled to continue this partnership working in an NHS hospital.”
Change Please is a social enterprise that aims to help the homeless through the sale of their coffee and recently they were involved in an initiative to supply free coffee to NHS Nightingale hospital workers.
Cemal Ezel, founder & chief executive of Change Please, commented: “With the number of people sleeping rough in London doubling in the last 5 years, it’s vital that we can help as many people as possible and providing award winning coffee at Southend will help us do this. The more coffee we can sell, the more people we can train as baristas, helping to get them off the streets.”