Evolve is a not-for profit coffee shop and modern event space which supports young people into employment. The coffee shops in Digbeth and Selly Park are staffed by young apprentices who have faced barriers into employment but are now being given the tools they need to build a positive future.
Evolve creates a paid, supported and meaningful work opportunity for young people in Birmingham allowing them to gain further qualifications, work placements in other organisations and better prospects for future employment.
People who have struggled to get onto the employment ladder due to factors such as facing mental health issues or being homeless are being given the opportunity to work at the living wage, be trained by the team and are offered holistic support from the staff who are support workers during their time at Evolve.
Evolve is a branch of the addiction charity, Aquarius, which they have a young peoples service there as well. The social enterprise wants to make the gap between going through a hard time to finding employment again easier and the support Evolve offers along side the role can provide a helpful stepping stone for the young apprentices.
On the organisations website, they offer the statistics that they have spent 800 hours on 1:1 support, 77% of their trainees have gone onto full-time employment, 5 qualifications are earned on average and 100% of profits are reinvested.
The organisation offers you the chance to sponsor evolve through three different packages; The Barista Package for £1,000, The Apprentice Package for £2,500 and The Next Steps Package for £5,000. All three packages last a year and go towards advertising, hospitality and event space hire and contributing towards training the young workers.
To find out more about the organisation or to support their goal, visit their website at: https://www.evolvebirmingham.co.uk/sponsor-us.html
Feature image taken from Evolve’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EvolveBrum/
