\ From my own experience of waiting for years as an asylum seeker, I want this space to support others on the same journey, helping them prepare for life and work \ Please read the full story below --

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This project introduces a mobile specialty coffee space as part of Café Laziz St Helens within the Street & Half initiative.

Serving high‑quality coffee while supporting and extending Café Laziz’s community work through cultural drinks, creative engagement, and artistic and social activities, contributing to workshops, cultural events, and refugee‑focused programmes, and connecting coffee with art, storytelling, and meaningful community participation.

My story :

In 2019, I had to leave my home and seek asylum in the UK. From late 2019 until early 2025, I lived in uncertainty, unable to work, waiting for papers, and trying to rebuild my life. During those years, coffee became my anchor. I learned through books, videos, and home experiments.

Then COVID hit. And yes, it pushed me down even further. I turned to volunteering, the only thing that made me feel useful.

In 2021, volunteering led me to Cafe Laziz through the Bike Shed project. I began by delivering their food by bicycle, then slowly started offering the other skills I had. Cafe Laziz became more than just a community it became the place that held me while I waited.

In 2023, I proposed introducing coffee and cultural drinks to Cafe Laziz, since they didn’t serve drinks at the time. They trusted me, and from that moment, I became their barista. I learned by doing, trained volunteers, and found purpose again.

When I finally received my refugee status in 2025 -after more than 5 years of waiting - I joined the Well Grounded programme and graduated as a certified barista by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA).

Today, I work as a freelance barista and as an artist with refugee communities, sharing human stories through photography.

My life now sits at the intersection of coffee, art, and people, the three things that carried me through the hardest years of my life.

Now

It's finally time to start the dream with a small, mobile coffee space that will be open to everyone, including cultural events, and creative projects.

It’s the dream that survived five years of waiting!

These funds will be used to build and equip the mobile coffee station, including :

• A professional espresso machine

• Grinder and brewing tools

• A mobile cart setup

• Initial supplies and materials

More about me :