Let's Pay it Forward!

by kiera in Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom

Let's Pay it Forward!

Total raised £4,281

raised so far

148

supporters

To raise funds to help run our pay as you can cafes that people can access as a warm space throughout the winter

by kiera in Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom

 New stretch target

With the cost of living and climate crisis many people are facing difficult decisions such as whether to heat or eat.  Warm spaces is a national initiative in which community spaces are providing free access for people to have a safe, shared space in which to work or stay to keep warm.  

Lily's have registered both of their pay as you can sites as a warm space to provide shared heated spaces from Oct 22-March 23.

One site is The Hub Cafe, based at Canterbury Baptist Church in Canterbury, and the other is based in Singleton Village Hall in Ashford

It costs around £5 to provide a food parcel, £3 to provide and hot meal and £2 to provide a hot drink. 

Both sites have free WiFI and so suitable for people who are working from home. 

These spaces are also a way to help stop people from feeling as though they are isolated and are able to come and meet new people.

We want to raise money to help fund these cafes as these are on a pay as you can basis. If someone cant afford to pay, then they don't have to as their meal is already paid for


Lily's opened to offer employment opportunities to those with Autism and Learning Disabilities. Over the last 5 years, we have expanded to have 4 cafes in Ashford, Canterbury and Maidstone; 2 of these are pay as you can.

This means that if you can only afford to pay very little (or not at all) then that is absolutely fine! We run a pay it forward scheme from our cafes which means that if someone is able to, they can pay for someone else to come to us for a meal. 

Our cafes are in Ashford (Singleton Village Hall) and Canterbury (The Hub Cafe, Canterbury Baptist Church). People are able to access food and drink from these sites, and The Hub Cafe also hand out food parcels to those who need access to food provisions. These are free to those who take them, and the pay it forward scheme helps run this

We have also registered these Cafes as a 'Warm Space' - an initiative that has been set up so that people can search for free, warm, welcoming places that they can go so they don't have to decide between 'heat or eat' during this cost of living crisis. 

Our trainees continue to work and learn in these spaces, providing hot drinks and food at each site and supporting their local communities. 

You can find out more info at the link here

Both of these cafes have got free wifi so that people who work from home can work from one of these cafes instead.

This Crowdfund is being set up so that if people aren't able to visit and pay it forward, they can do this online and even make regular donations. We know times are hard for everyone, so please only donate if you are able to.

Show your support

Payment and personal details are protected