Julius set up Second Shot coffee shop in Bethnal Green, London to make a difference to people who were homeless. Julius trains homeless people to work in his shop to help them get their lives back together.
The shop also runs a "pay it forward" scheme where customers can pay for a coffee or a meal for a homeless person. In three years this scheme has paid for 7,000 coffees and 5,000 meals for people living on the streets. Julius says, "people are intrinsically good if given the opportunity."
"It's really nice being able to see people's journeys as they exit homelessness. One day they come to us and say, 'I've got a hostel, I've got somewhere to live now,' which is amazing and then it sounds kind of funny but it's really nice and we never see them again because.. that's it."
What do you see in the picture?
Where do you think this wall is?
What's it about?
Explain the story
- How might a person become homeless?
- Once a person is homeless, why is it difficult to change the situation?
-Why do you think Julius set up this shop?
- How does having training in a coffee shop help a person who is homeless?
- Why does Julius say "It's really nice and we never see them again?" Where have they gone? Why is that nice?
- How does 'pay it forward'work?
- The scheme has paid for 7000 coffees and 5000 meals, who has paid for those?
- When people pay a meal forward do you think they ever say, "Can you make sure this goes to a Christian person" or, "Can you make sure this pays for a person who is white or who was born in England only"? Why not?
- What does this show about people today?
- Julius says he believes people are 'intrinsically good' what does he mean?
- What can we learn from Julius?
- What can we learn from the customers of Second Shot?
- Why is this story about No Outsiders?