THE Glasgow Coffee Festival has announced a new scheme to help teens start their careers in the coffee industry.

Partnering with social enterprise Hub International, the festival has unveiled the first-ever "coffee scholarship" to help disadvantaged young people become fully trained baristas.

Profits from the festival will go towards the pioneering scheme which will be awarded to "budding baristas" who are leaving education and are not yet in work.

The programme will start with employability training at Hub International's training deli in Glasgow city centre which covers confidence building, interview preparation, customer service, barista training, and hospitality skills.

Participants will also be able to explore other avenues of the coffee industry by visiting roasteries and milk producers.

Once training is completed, scholarship recipients will undertake paid barista work experience funded by the Glasgow Coffee Festival. They will be able to build experience in roasting, marketing, sales, and any other avenues they want to develop skills in.

At the end of the programme, there will be an opportunity to deliver a talk at next year's Glasgow Coffee Festival.

Lisa Lawson, founder of Glasgow Coffee Festival and Dear Green Coffee Roasters, said: “Giving something back to the coffee community and Glasgow itself is central to what the festival stands for, and this partnership is the perfect way to do it. 

“Coffee is an amazing industry and there are so many different ways to build a career within it. We want to be a massive support to all the young people that will benefit from the scholarship, we’ve already offered training sessions and showed students around our roastery."

Mhairi Strohm, head of youth training at Hub International, said: “We want to help bridge the gap between a young person and what they want to do. Our role is to take them on a journey through hospitality that ends with them in a cool job they love.

“The coffee industry is booming, and we want to show young people how exciting and varied a career in it can be – whether working in cafes or becoming a roaster. At the end of the scholarship, we want participants to be equipped with the skills and confidence they need to be super employable and ready for an enriching life in coffee.” 

The Glasgow Coffee Festival takes place at The Briggait this weekend. To find out more, click here.