Baristas prepare for Coffee Week in Edinburgh

Now in its 9th year, the largest celebration of coffee, UK Coffee Week returns from April 29 to May 5, to raise money for Project Waterfall whilst championing the city’s thriving coffee scene.

Brew Lab Coffee on South College Street know how to make the perfect cup. Photo credit: Southern Cross

Serious city coffee connoisseurs from Bruntsfield to Leith, Stockbridge and the Old Town, will join hundreds of business across the UK in donating money from every cup of coffee bought by customers.

Southern Cross Cafe, Brew Lab Coffee, Art & Vintage, Ostara and Lovecrumbs have all committed to the week-long campaign in a bid to raise as much money as possible for the charity.

New campaign ‘My Cup Matters’ will show how shops and coffee lovers can make a real difference with their daily cup of coffee.

Honeycomb & Co in Bruntsfield has also just launched their new Spring menu. Photo credit: Honeycomb & Co

Since 2011, UK Coffee Week has raised over £1 million for Project Waterfall – an initiative delivering clean water, sanitation and education to coffee-growing communities – and changed over 40,000 lives.

Their efforts will give coffee lovers across the UK the chance to support Project Waterfall simply by enjoying their daily cup of coffee – a message that will be reinforced through a new campaign called ‘My Cup Matters’.

The campaign will highlight why Project Waterfall is so important, and show the positive impact it’s having on lives, through a series of events, workshops and installations.

Jeffrey Young, Founder of UK Coffee Week, said: “UK Coffee Week is all about the celebration of coffee and uniting the industry with its customers to raise valuable funds for the millions of people in coffee-growing regions who rely on coffee to fund their livelihoods. We truly believe that every cup of coffee makes a difference, and everybody can make their cup matter this UK Coffee Week.”

Participating coffee shops choose how they want to raise money, so coffee loves can support in a range of different ways both in-store and online. On top of this, anyone can donate £3 (the cost of a cup of coffee) to Project Waterfall by texting ‘COFFEE’ to 70331 or help spread the word by sharing their coffee images from the week using #MyCupMatters.

In 2018, over £245,000 was raised during UK Coffee Week. These donations were used to fund the start of Project Waterfall’s 4-year programme to bring clean drinking water and sanitation to over 10,000 people in the rural Jabi Tehnan district of Ethiopia.

This year hopes to top those fundraising efforts, with 100% of proceeds supporting this ongoing project, which is in partnership with WaterAid.

For more information, and to register to participate, please visit www.ukcoffeeweek.com or get involved in the conversation using #UKCoffeeWeek and #MyCupMatters .