Here at Huskup we pretty much run on coffee and we know that most of you love it just as much as we do. So recently we’ve been celebrating UK Coffee Week and the amazing work the team at Project Waterfall do in coffee-growing communities around the world. Let’s take a look at what UK Coffee Week is all about and how to get involved.
What Exactly Is UK Coffee Week?
As the name might suggest it’s a week focused on the coffee industry, or more specifically the people that actually grow our coffee! UK Coffee Week is the flagship fundraising campaign of Project Waterfall, a charity dedicated to ending the water crisis being faced by those that grow our beloved bean. During one week in October cafes, roasters and more around the UK can sign up to help raise funds for this great cause. By donating from every cup or bag of coffee sold those taking part raised over £51,500 last year and they’re hoping to do even better in 2021!
Of course, UK Coffee Week is predominantly about raising money, but it’s also a great chance to learn more about coffee and the industry as a whole. As part of this year’s Coffee Week, the team have put together a mini-podcast series. With an episode posted each day from 18th right through to 24th, you can listen to some great conversations with experts from the world of coffee and hospitality.
They also had a great raffle this year full of incredible coffee themed prizes. These included a year’s supply of coffee, coffee machines and even a pair of trainers made from coffee waste! You can find out more about the work being done and the money raised on the UK Coffee Week website.
Who Are Project Waterfall And What Do They Do?
More than 780 million people around the world don’t have access to clean water, many of them live in real areas growing our coffee. Project Waterfall feels it’s unfair that while we enjoy a beautiful cup of coffee the people that work so hard to give us that luxury don’t even have clean drinking water. And we couldn’t agree more! Coffee is a water-intensive crop, meaning that it takes a huge amount of water to grow and process. In this case, around 840L to make just one 750ml pot of coffee. This is creating a water crisis in the countries that rely on coffee as a major export.
Project Waterfall has been working to change this since 2011. They have so far raised over £1 million transforming lives in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam. They aim to raise an additional £1.5 million by the end of 2021 to close out a decade of amazing work.
Their dedication to bringing clean water and sanitation to the coffee-growing communities has had a huge positive effect. It helps to dramatically reduce child mortality rates and means that girls can spend more time in school. Instead of spending hours every day collecting water women and young girls can spend this time in education or starting their own businesses. It also means that these communities can grow more healthy foods better helping them to fight disease and illness.
Access to clean water and sanitation can have such a profound and all-encompassing effect on a community. As the climate changes rural communities in these parts of the world will be the first and worst to be affected. It is vital that we work hard to give them everything they need to adapt to these coming changes. And water stability is a big part of that fight, helping communities out of poverty and into a sustainable and secure future.
Why Are We So Passionate About This Cause?
As we said, we’re big coffee drinkers here at Huskup, and as you know by now we’re also big on protecting the environment. But that doesn’t mean we’re only interested in how much we can limit plastic pollution. We think it’s also just as important to protect the people living in the increasingly harsh conditions that climate change is presenting.
Almost all the world’s coffee is grown in a band around the equator of the planet often referred to at “The Bean Belt”. Coffee is pretty fussy about how and where it grows and the bean belt just so happens to contain ecosystems that are perfect. But as the climate changes these ecosystems are some of the first to come under threat. This is not only bad news for your morning cup of Joe but most importantly for the rural communities trying to make a living there. Without clean water and sanitation living a long and healthy life is hard enough. Add on top of that failing coffee crops and their only income disappears.
We want to ensure that not only are we limiting our environmental impact but we are also contributing to a better quality of life for everyone on the planet.
That’s why we support fundraising campaigns like UK Coffee Week and the work of charities like Project Waterfall. It’s really important to us that the campaigns we support work in partnership with the communities they are helping. And we love their approach to working with coffee growing communities to bring them clean, safe water and access to education in the most sustainable way possible.
How To Get Involved
As a coffee drinker, it couldn’t be easier, just buy a cup or bag of coffee from a participating business, you get a delicious caffeine fix and someone else gets clean drinking water! If you’re one of those rare few people who doesn’t like coffee, don’t worry you can still help too! Although Coffee Week is over for this year you can still support this fantastic cause by donating directly on the Project Waterfall website!
As a business owner, it’s also really easy to help raise funds. You can register next year on the UK Coffee Week website and they’ll send you a great fundraising kit full of tips to get the most out of the week. Or do your own bit of fundraising all year round and donate directly to Project Waterfall. You’ll be contributing to a fantastic cause and give the people that grow our coffee a much better quality of life.
Although we don’t sell coffee we buy plenty of it, and during UK Coffee Week we make sure we buy from businesses donating to this great cause. Some of our favourites this year have been Allpress Espresso, Cannacoffee and Caravan Coffee Roasters. All great companies making beautiful coffee and of course working with Project Waterfall to make life better for growers.
And what have we been drinking this fantastic coffee in? Well, a Huskup of course! But not just any Huskup, keep an eye on our social media over the next week for a very exciting launch. It’s something we’ve been working on for a while and we can’t wait to finally be able to share it with you!
