Angel Loves Indies… Trampoline
Trampoline, 27 Camden Passage, N1 8EA
It’s not just their all-day brekkers or epic sarnies that put a bounce in customers’ steps. Trampoline café is also about helping London’s refugee community gain independence. Here, founder Pranav Chopra tells all.
What is Trampoline? Please tell us a bit about the concept.
Trampoline is a social enterprise café I founded in 2022. It was opened to provide a training ground for refugees to learn barista and customer service skills. I wanted to start a business that solely employed refugees, helping them on their upward journey.
Our café manager Ashkan Pedram is an Iranian refugee who started out as a barista for us and has worked his way up. Ashkan is currently training a few other refugees to work on weekends. We have two other team members who help out at the café too that specialise in sales and marketing for NEMI Teas, a tea company I founded before Trampoline that also provides employment and work experience for refugees.
At the moment, there is only one Trampoline café – but we would love to expand to other locations over the next few years.
Why are you called Trampoline?
The idea behind Trampoline is to kick-start careers – giving refugees an opportunity to ‘bounce’ into working life, hence the name.
Trampoline is quite unique in its social philosophy – tell us about how you are involved in the community.
We try to create a friendly community hub where locals feel welcome to come and hang out and chat with our staff. We also host a variety of free events as we want to encourage the community to come together more and create a network for refugees, as well as to educate others on social enterprises and the refugee crisis.
How does the training work?
Our programme is run by The Hotel School and is a 10-week course in all areas of hospitality from front- to back-of-house skills. Once our referrals have completed the programme, we place them into various jobs through our employment partner, Thomas Franks catering company, or employ them to work at Trampoline. Since the café opened, we have employed eight refugees and hosted multiple training sessions for those on the programme to practice working in a coffee shop.
What are your main challenges?
The refugees that we work with have often encountered significant hardships and one of our main challenges is supporting them to reach their full potential. We do not have the means to provide enough support to those facing trauma and it is frustrating when we cannot help as many people as we would like.
Who is your typical customer?
All kinds of customers come through our doors, whether its people on their way to and from work, students using our upstairs space to study, or friends out exploring Camden Passage.
What makes your business unique?
Our business is unique in that simply by drinking a cup of coffee, you are helping to fund a project that changes refugees’ lives for the better.
What does the future hold for Trampoline?
We hope to turn our café into a bar in the evenings. Look out for further announcements on our social media.
What do you enjoy about working in Angel?
Angel is a vibrant area, with an eclectic mix of residents. It’s lovely working on Camden Passage, where there are lots of other small businesses, as there’s always something going on.
Please share something people might not know about you.
I was born in India, raised in New Zealand and have lived in Australia, Madrid and London.
And finally, what is your….
Favourite tipple? Gin & tonic.
Go-to snack? Anything chocolate.
Perfect Sunday? A round of golf and a few beers with friends
Have you ever been trampolining? Not since I was much younger!
Spring over to Trampoline, visit its website or follow on Instagram.
+++ Are you an independent business in Angel and would like to feature? Drop Sarah an email at sarah@angel.london.
