Giving refugees a helping hand – Usman’s pop-up cafe in Peckham

A coffee shop chain which helps train up refugees as baristas is about to open up a new pop-up store in Peckham. 

The Haven Coffee shop will open up on Friday inside hair salon Scissors on the fifth level of Peckham Levels, in Rye Lane. 

The positions aim to give asylum seekers and migrants a way in to the hospitality sector. They are not paid for the work but have expenses covered. 

The man behind the venture, Usman Khalid, is himself a refugee, having arrived from Pakistan in 2007 and been granted indefinite leave to remain in 2015. 

He already has a café in Walthamstow, where he lives, having launched in 2019, and operates a market stall in Shoreditch and felt the time was right to branch out to South London. 

Mr Khalid said: “I think, instead of considering refugees and asylum seekers as a burden and liability on the society, we should welcome them and get benefitted with their diverse experiences. 

“We give paid barista trainings to refugees so that they can be more employable in the society and get integrated in the UK society through job market.”

Profits from sales are channelled towards other ventures aimed at helping asylum seekers in other ways too.

“We also run different visual and performing art events, such as comedy gigs and art exhibitions with refugee artists in an effort to break the false narratives around refugees,” Mr Khan said.

Pictured above: Haven Owner Mr Khan and the cafe he operates in north London (Pictures: Usman Khan)