Pop up café opens in London to support environmental activism
Melanie May | 26 September 2019 | News
A pop up café opens its doors in London today, supporting environmental activism, and donating all money raised from coffee sales to local UK environmental charities and NGOS.
The Patagonia Action Works Café will be open for three weeks in London’s Broadway Market, seven days a week from 10am to 7pm Monday to Friday, and 12pm to 5pm on Sundays.
Following the recent climate strikes, the café offers people the chance to learn how to make a difference, with the guidance of UK environmental organisations who are supported by Patagonia, via the 1% for the Planet giving programme.
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Inspiration for the café comes from Patagonia Action Works, the brand’s new online platform, which launched across Europe yesterday and connects people with local, national and global grassroots organisations fighting to solve the climate crisis. Through the online platform, users can volunteer skills and time, sign petitions, discover local events and donate money to causes they are passionate about.
Environmental non-profits on the platform are from all over the world, including UK and Irish NGOs such as Extinction Rebellion, Save Our Rivers, Friends of the Earth, 10:10, Irish Seed Savers, Surfers Against Sewage and Rewilding Britain.
To ignite the activist within its visitors, the café is displaying ‘Action Postcards’ featuring 24 different actions that individuals can take, depending on how much time they have to spare, from five minutes: Signing a petition to save the Right Whale from extinction, to seven days: Filing a climate litigation case against the government.
There will also be eight skills cards, offering opportunities to provide skilled volunteering to a range of NGOs, in areas such as photography, business development and accountancy.
Practical and inspiring books written by thought leaders and activists are also available to leaf through and borrow, while outside of the café, on Broadway Market, UK environmental groups will be running stalls each market day, and fielding questions on what they do and how people can help.
There will also be a range of free activities to sign up for, that aim to inspire, educate and galvanise support for tackling the climate crisis, from a workshop on NVDA (Non-Violent Direct Action) to a discussion on carbon literacy and a walking exploration of the rivers of London.
Mihela Hladin Wolfe, Patagonia’s Director of Environmental Initiatives, EMEA, said:
“With Patagonia Action Works we want to help more people go further in their environmental activism. The platform should be an entrance into activism for first timers and a place to connect and share for those who have already begun.”
The Europe-wide launch of Patagonia Action Works follows on from the platform in North America, which has seen half a million people take action to support environmental issues, enabled users to volunteer time and skills, join events, sign petitions and donate to conservation causes.
Patagonia has a history of supporting environmental activism including, most recently, closing all stores around the world in support of the Global Climate Strike movement, led by youth activists. Two recent campaigns, Save the Blue Heart of Europe and Artifishal, aim to protect wild rivers and wild fish populations. The company also gained world headlines in 2017 for filing a lawsuit against the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, for illegally reducing the size of two National Monuments.
- Patagonia founder gives away all company profits to fight climate crisis (15 September 2022)
- Laureus Sport for Good Index highlights 29 brands leading the way (8 November 2022)
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.