THE first Suspended Coffees are hanging in the Welsh capital.
The Boardroom Coffee, a skate and surf themed coffee shop that opened in Duke Arcade on Saturday March 14, is the first business in Cardiff to participate in the international scheme Suspended Coffees.
The scheme was born from an Italian tradition in working-class cafes in Naples, where someone who experienced good luck during the day would order a caffè sospeso, buying two coffees as a result.
The second “suspended coffee” would be served later during the day to a person who really needed it.
John Sweeney, an Irishman from Cork, launched a social movement called Suspended Coffees in March 2013 which encouraged businesses to take on the scheme and which has now spread around the world.
Its motto reads: “A suspended coffee is the advanced purchase of a coffee or food item for anyone in need. A cup of coffee can warm the body but kindness can warm the heart and soul.”
Two years after the creation of the social movement, Caroline Nieuwenhuis, 24, who runs the Boardroom Coffee, decided to introduce the scheme in Cardiff and served the first suspended coffee to a homeless person on Sunday.
Miss Nieuwenhuis said: “I have seen the scheme in a few places when I was travelling and I think it’s a nice idea, especially in the cold months the least you can do is get someone a coffee and brighten their day. It’s a way of making the act of buying a coffee less selfish.”
“I want to get in touch with charities like the Salvation Army to spread the word that we are doing this for people on the streets who wouldn’t otherwise come into a coffee shop.”
Miss Nieuwenhuis was born in Cardiff but has a passion for surfing. She spent a couple of years in Australia and five years in Cornwall as a surf instructor. She decided to return to Cardiff to open the Boardroom Coffee, a place for the board sport community to meet and share their interests but also welcomes everyone else.
