A café offering jobs to homeless people aims to reopen in the second week of January 2022.
The Margins Café, at the Union Chapel on Upper Street, was forced to close at the start of the covid-19 pandemic but has begun recruiting again as part of a supported employment programme to tackle homelessness across Islington.
The café is part of the Margins Project which offers a range of services – including hot meals and shower drop-ins – to those in need.
The Margins Project has seen its income drop during the pandemic, meanwhile more people are relying on its services than ever before: “in January we were supporting up to 40 people but this has now gone up to 60 people,” said Amanuel Woldesus, who manages the scheme, “We expect this upward trend to continue into the near future”.
Woldesus said that the café was at the heart of the Margins Project’s efforts to reduce homelessness within the local area.
“The supported employment programme does not just teach people about catering. It’s all about managing yourself – how you budget, how you interact with people”, he said.
Woldesus said he hopes that the scheme will have the same success that it has had in the past. For example, one person who was previously on the supported employment programme now manages a cycling shop in south-west London.
A successful reopening of the café will provide a boost in income for the Margins Project.
