Paddy & Scott's
Fuelling Futures Report 2026.
Highlights.
We’re a little coffee company and were initially hesitant to share the positive impact we’re making.
But we realised that inspiring others to create change is more important than keeping good ideas to ourselves.
Making a real difference together matters most.
Introduction.
At Paddy & Scott’s, coffee is more than a great taste, it’s a catalyst for positive change. Every cup serves as a chance to fuel ambition and make a meaningful difference.
This report captures the progress we’ve made over the past year, alongside the obstacles we’ve faced and overcome together.
Our commitment remains clear: to serve outstanding coffee while helping to create fairer and more sustainable futures for the communities we work with.
Over the year, we have learned from challenges and grown as a team, always guided by a deep respect for the unique culture of the regions our coffee is grown. Our approach is to support resilience locally, fostering accountability and long-term change, not dependency.
Our efforts have included planting trees, holding community events, building school halls, providing Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Services and funding meals for children.
Achieving this has taken careful partnership-building and ongoing support on the ground. We know that real, lasting change depends on working together with integrity.
We have introduced new coffees, each with purpose at their core. None of this would be possible without the enduring support of our customers, partners, and team.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we continue to lay foundations for a brighter, more resilient future.
Our Impact: Why & How?
Despite ongoing challenges in the coffee industry, from climate threats to barriers faced by farming communities, our purpose remains simple: coffee should be a force for good.
We take action by building lasting, transparent partnerships with those who grow our coffee. Together with the Muchomba family in Meru, Kenya, we invest directly in local schools, better facilities, and fair, above-market prices for farmers. Our support means school meals, improved education, dignity packs and practical help for more resilient farming.
And proudly our team tell us this matters too, rating our team engagement at 9.6/10 and our integrity at 9.6/10.
We celebrate our progress while recognising there’s more to do. Step by step, cup by cup, we’re creating lasting impact for everyone along the journey from crop to cup.
Direct trade.
We have proudly spent zero £££ on accreditation bodies to certify our coffee as ethical. Instead, we invest directly in the people who matter most, the farmers who grow our coffee.
Our Direct Trade model ensures our coffee is traded directly from farmers, eliminating unnecessary middle layers. This means more money flows directly to farming communities, supporting local schools, community projects, and sustainable agricultural practices.
For us, ethical sourcing isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about honest transparency, fostering real partnerships, and making a meaningful impact where it counts most: at the source.
Products with Purpose.
Every product we produce is designed to make a difference.
This year, we roasted, packed, and poured the equivalent weight in coffee to a whopping 31 Kenyan elephants.
Every cup backs vital projects here in the UK and in the regions where our coffee is grown.
Mental resilience in young people.
The High Performance Foundation empowers young people through role models and storytelling, helping them build essential mindsets for wellbeing and future careers.
In partnership with The High Performance Foundation, we launched a limited-edition ‘Game Plan’ coffee and hosted a live event with Jake Humphrey with proceeds supporting their mission.
Over Black Friday weekend, we dedicated our website to ‘Classrooms Over Chaos’. Customers visiting our online shop were only able to purchase Game Plan coffee with proceeds supporting the Foundation.
Mental health.
We believe everyone deserves a moment of calm, and that decaf should never mean compromise. We created Clear Mind to celebrate that pause… a cup designed to support better mental health, in partnership with Suffolk Mind, who helped 33,874 people in 2024.
With every bag sold, a portion of the proceeds directly funds mental health research, education, and support services, helping our communities to thrive. But our commitment goes further: this collaboration encourages vital conversations about wellbeing, reminding us all to take time for ourselves, connect with others, and care for our minds as much as our bodies.
It’s a small daily ritual with a big purpose.
Great-tasting coffee that helps make the world clearer and kinder.
Fundraising.
We are proud to support charities and communities across the UK and abroad through fundraising events and partnerships.
This year, supporters joined “An Evening with Jake Humphrey,” raising £24,356 for the High Performance Foundation, helping young people across the UK build greater mental strength.
“An Evening with Lord Stuart Rose” raised £9,801.65 for Ormiston Families, enabling them to deliver vital services to children and families in the East of England.
We also partnered with Inspire UK to launch a coffee initiative, empowering young people with skills and access to meaningful work.
These initiatives and other fundraising from our partners reflect our commitment to supporting brighter futures globally.
School hall.
In the UK, it’s easy to take spaces like school halls for granted, places where assemblies, exams, and community events simply happen. In Meru County, Kenya, however, the new school hall at Ruiga School has transformed daily life. For the children, it is far more than just a building; it is a safe place to eat, sit their exams, and receive counselling and support.
For the wider community, the hall has become a beacon of opportunity and care. During the first community outreach programme, 242 local residents accessed vital health services, including blood tests, cancer screenings, and family planning.
What might seem ordinary to us is extraordinary here, a shared space that brings education, health, and hope together under one roof.
School gardens.
In the UK, school gardens often introduce children to where their food comes from. At Ruiga School in Meru, their garden represents so much more, a step toward a sustainable future. The school’s farm, now home to 500 avocado trees intercropped with coffee plants thanks to the Muchomba family, serves as both a living classroom and a lasting investment in the community.
By the third year, the avocado trees will bear fruit. By the fifth year, the school expects to generate around £2,500 annually, funds that will support school meals, essential maintenance, and education, creating a cycle of self-sufficiency. More than just providing income, the farm teaches students valuable agricultural skills and the importance of caring for the land. This knowledge will empower the next generation and help the entire community thrive for years to come.
Lunch Box.
Have you ever tried to concentrate on an empty stomach?
For many children in Meru, hunger was once a daily barrier to learning. Our Lunch Box Programme is changing this by providing not just lunches but breakfast as well. These meals do more than satisfy hunger; they remove one of the biggest obstacles to school attendance and give parents the comfort of knowing their children are nourished and cared for every day.
With food security comes freedom, the freedom to play, to learn, and to simply be a child. Alongside the meals, we have introduced vertical gardens, allowing schools to grow their own crops for future use. This is a small but powerful step from dependency towards true sustainability.
Lunch Box in numbers.
We’ve provided meals across the regions where we buy our coffee, but the Ruiga School’s hold a special place in our hearts.
In Kenya, children can only attend school if their families can afford the fees. This cost puts education out of reach for many.
By focusing our efforts, we can create lasting change.
Earth coffee.
As rising temperatures threaten Arabica coffee, we have partnered with farmers, the Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo (Federal Institute of Espírito Santo), and soil scientists in Bahia, Brazil, to create regenerative coffee that thrives in a changing climate.
What was once cattle farmland is now home to 268,000 coffee trees and 2,000 avocado plants, restoring biodiversity and protecting local waterways.
Earth Coffee represents the next chapter in sustainable coffee: science-backed, regenerative, and built to secure the future of coffee.
Reforestation.
Reforestation around Mount Kenya is about much more than planting trees; it is about restoring balance.
For generations, deforestation has threatened the mountain’s fragile ecosystem, causing soil erosion, water shortages, and the loss of vital habitats for wildlife that depend on these forests for safe migration.
By supporting reforestation, we help to rebuild natural corridors, protect biodiversity, and stabilise the land that local communities depend on for farming and clean water.
Beyond the environmental benefits, these efforts also create jobs and support livelihoods for people living around the mountain.
Every tree planted nurtures both the planet and the people who rely on it.
Sexual and Reproductive Health education.
We are partnering with the Mount Kenya Trust to deliver vital Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) education, led by individuals with first-hand experience of the challenges faced. In a region where 43% of the population is aged 19 or under, this work is crucial for helping young people make informed and confident choices about their futures.
The programme is community-led and culturally appropriate, ensuring sensitive topics are discussed thoughtfully and with care to both boys and girls.
Most importantly, we are listening. The team focuses on building trusting relationships with the girls, who each complete an individual questionnaire to share their experiences, challenges, and recommendations.
Of the 500 girls reached, 95% participated in the survey, providing powerful insights that enable us to adapt and shape the programme around their real needs.
By training teachers, community leaders, and peer mentors, along with The Mount Kenyan Trust, we are building a lasting network of support, empowering girls to understand their rights, make informed choices, and inspire others to do the same.
Dignity packs.
Providing dignity packs to young women in Meru is about much more than meeting a practical need, it’s about removing invisible barriers that threaten their health, safety, and future.
For many, access to safe sanitary products is not a given. Without them, girls often use unsafe materials or miss school entirely each month, leading to discomfort, illness, shame, and falling behind in their studies.
Lack of sanitary products and menstrual health education leaves girls vulnerable to exploitation, with some pressured into transactional relationships just to obtain basic supplies. These desperate choices can increase the risk of unplanned pregnancy, dropping out of school, and exposure to further harm.
In Meru, where 24% of girls aged 15 - 19 have experienced pregnancy and one sub-county has rates above 50%, the impact cannot be overstated. Almost all pregnant girls leave school and most never return, locking them out of opportunity and trapping them in a cycle of disadvantage.
By providing dignity packs, we help break these cycles. Girls receive the resources they need to manage their periods and renewed confidence to stay in school, participate in their communities, and pursue their ambitions.
It’s a simple intervention with life-changing potential, ensuring no girl’s future is determined by biology or circumstance, but by her own aspirations.
Relationships and what's next?
At the heart of everything we do are the relationships we build. Whether it’s in Kenya, Brazil, or here in the UK, our work is never just about us, it’s about the people we walk alongside. From farmers and partners to staff and customers, every connection we make is grounded in a shared purpose.
We know that real, lasting change only happens when these relationships are strong enough to endure long after our direct involvement ends. That’s why we listen first, collaborate closely, and invest deeply in people.
We are profoundly grateful for the trust placed in us and for every person who chooses to join us. It’s your partnership and support that allow us to keep forging these vital connections.
When trust grows, so does our collective impact and together, there’s no limit to what we can achieve.
Fuelling Ambition
