Honest Grind Coffee opens café at Old Diorama Arts Centre - Camden Rise

Honest Grind Coffee is a radical employability programme and specialty coffee roastery brought to you by Camden Council’s Integrated Youth Support Service.
 
Honest Grind provides bespoke employability training and paid work to young people from some of London’s most disadvantaged communities. Their programmes build self-esteem, develop work skills and create clear pathways into employment.
 
They only work with the industry best and source green coffee with a score of 86 or higher, guiding their young participants to expertly roast the beans and prepare coffees at barista standards.
 
Marsha Brown, of Honest Grind Coffee, said: "We are delighted to partner with the Old Diorama Arts Centre to create our first café. The location of our coffee cart allows our wonderful participants the opportunity to learn customer service skills in a safe and welcoming environment. It’s a great collaboration."
 
The new café, at Old Diorama Arts Centre (ODAC), 201 Drummond Street, NW1 3FE, is selling:

• Honest Grind Coffee
• A variety of teas and hot chocolate.

They will also be serving baked goods daily, as well as packs of Honest Grind Coffee beans and ground coffee. Opening hours are: Monday to Friday, 9am to 2pm; Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 2pm.

Daniel Pitt, Creative Director and Chief Executive of ODAC, said: "ODAC's bright and airy foyer has been crying out for a coffee shop for years. 'Where round here can I get a good coffee?' is one of the most heard questions from our team on the front desk, and now finally the answer is 'over in that corner'. 

Back in May 2023, I first saw an announcement of Camden's Honest Grind project launching, and immediately ordered their coffee for our office. That was quickly followed by an email to our friends in Camden Youth Service asking for an introduction, and then a meeting with the wonderful Marsha. The staff team has been drinking their coffee ever since, and now all our visitors can!

With ODAC's focus on supporting localism and social action, partnering with Honest Grind as a Euston neighbour with a radical outlook makes total sense. ODAC is about collaboration - collaboration is a conversation, and a drink is a period of time to have that conversation. Have a coffee in our foyer and be open to what opportunities it might create, for you or a young person."