Coffee van offers unique outlet of support to students

Salvation Army launches coffee van offering unique outlet of support to students around the North West 

The Salvation Army has introduced a new element to its outreach support in the North West allowing it to engage with students and young people. 

A unique offering, The Salvation Army has recently welcomed a reconditioned van to its local outreach, transforming it into a coffee shop on wheels, and positioning itself within the heart of student communities across key regions in the North West including Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria.

Affectionately named ‘Brew Van’ the church and charity’s youth team in the North West will use the vehicle to attend university freshers’ fairs and Salvation Army events profiling the work of the church and charity at the same time as offering a range of hot and cold refreshments. A chaplain will also be part of the coffee van team offering pastoral support and signposting to other organisations where necessary, providing another arm of support to local communities.

Darren Highton, youth specialist for The Salvation Army in the North West said: “The Salvation Army is passionate about reaching younger members of communities, supporting them and sharing the good news of Jesus and so it made sense to meet them where they are and do what they like doing. This is doing church differently and getting to the very heart of young people’s communities, giving ourselves a presence within their circles. 

“Students are now choosing to spend their spare time having a chat and positive interaction over a hot drink in a coffee shop so we decided we could create those communities ourselves. Our Brew Van will allow people to get together, have a drink and a chat and in turn will open The Salvation Army up to a new world, helping young people get access to whatever support they might need, whether that is a friendly shoulder, listening ear or signposting to other avenues of support.”

Historically used as an emergency response vehicle for The Salvation Army across Scotland, the van was saved from scrapping and repurposed bringing the ‘Brew Van’ vision to life. Serving specialist coffees and teas, cold drinks and biscuits, everything on the van will be fair trade and ethical, contributing to The Salvation Army’s mission of caring for creation. 

Darren added: “We want to lead by example and have made a conscious decision, and commitment, to ensuring that we can tell the story of every item that is served from the van, knowing where they have come from and that they are fair trade and ethical. We’re proud to say that we have Hope Espresso coffee beans, Clipper tea bags and even our biscuits are fair trade from Half the Story.”

The coffee van is energy efficient with two lithium batteries that, once full, store up to nine hours of energy and are charged via a standard 13-amp household plug. The batteries then power everything within the coffee van. 

All proceeds from items sold from the coffee van will go back into the work of The Salvation Army’s children and youth team across the North West.