One of the ELFT Charity’s larger awards in 2025 went to supporting ten service users in ELFT’s forensic mental health community services to receive barista training in the art of making and serving coffee in a commercial setting. The Trust partnered with Redemption Roasters, who train prison leavers and people at risk of offending, with the skills they need to gain secure and meaningful employment. The national average for reoffending is 38%. 
For offenders selected for Redemption’s programme, the reoffending rate is 3%, so the training they offer can really improve an individual’s employment prospects and provide a purposeful and supportive work environment. The funding was agreed in February 2025. Five service users undertook the barista training in June and another five started in September. Seven made it to the end, completing the training. All seven went on to complete trial shifts in coffee shops in central London and three of those are now working part-time in a cafe.
The participants loved it with one saying, "I am so happy to have done the training at Redemption Roasters. First, I want to say thank you to Jezebel and the tutor Loui who did the amazing job. In five days I learned a lot of things about coffee which I didn’t know before. It looks like it's easy to make coffee but it is not that simple to make different types of coffee. The skills which I learned in the course I would like to use in the future. If I get the opportunity I will do my best. Again thank you to all who supported me."
Jezebel Button, Lead Occupational Therapist (Newham) was thrilled with the response and grateful to the ELFT Charity for providing the opportunity for the service to offer this. She said,
"With a grant from the charity, my team were able to support several service users to access the barista training with Redemption Roasters. Because of the funding, Redemption Roasters were able to tailor courses to meet our service users’ needs and were incredibly responsive and understanding whenever issues arose. We now have service users working in Redemption Roasters coffee shops and some even in a managerial capacity. The funding from ELFT Charity enabled us to plan this course and the ongoing support from the Redemption Roasters team, which has provided opportunities our service users wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere."
Photographs: Kindly provided by Redemption Roasters