03.11.2026

Stir Food partners with SEND Coffee to support pathways into hospitality

Education caterer Stir Food has partnered with non-profit organisation SEND Coffee to serve its speciality coffee across its sixth-form and further education colleges - while supporting opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to enter hospitality.

Under the partnership, Stir will exclusively source coffee for its sixth-form and further education college operations from SEND Coffee, with the offer already introduced at Hereward College, London Screen Academy and Stanmore College.

SEND Coffee is a speciality coffee provider and non-profit organisation that works with young adults with SEND, providing training in barista, hospitality, and wider life skills, and supporting learners towards paid employment.

As well as supplying its Shanee’s Blend and Katanda coffees, SEND Coffee is working with Stir to set up and manage coffee machines at its college sites and help teams deliver a high-quality coffee offer.

The partnership brings together Stir’s focus on quality and sustainability with both organisations’ commitment to creating employment opportunities for young people with SEND.

Stir already caters for a number of specialist SEND schools and colleges and supports students in developing workplace skills, including through opportunities within its own kitchens.

Deborah Batchelor, chief executive of Stir Food, said: “There was an obvious connection between Stir and SEND Coffee. We both believe hospitality can provide meaningful opportunities for young people with SEND, and this partnership gives us another practical way to support that.

“We want the coffee we serve to be excellent, but we also want to think about the impact of where we spend our money. By choosing SEND Coffee, we can provide a great product to students and staff while helping an organisation that is creating genuine pathways into employment.

“We already have young people with SEND gaining experience within our kitchens, so this feels like a very natural extension of what we are trying to achieve as a business.”

SEND Coffee combines its speciality coffee operation with a training programme designed to equip young adults with disabilities with barista, hospitality and independent living skills.

Its wholesale operation also provides training, equipment and technical support, with income generated through coffee sales supporting its wider impact work.

Francesca Peak, Head of Communications at SEND Coffee, said: "Wholesale partnerships like this allow us to grow our reach, whilst generating the income that supports our work on our mentoring programme and across the industry. Just as importantly, working with organisations such as Stir helps demonstrate the critical role the wider hospitality industry can play in creating more accessible routes into employment and supporting people with disabilities within the industry."

The partnership has initially launched at three Stir-operated sixth-form college sites, with SEND Coffee set to become Stir’s exclusive coffee supplier across its sixth-form college portfolio as the offer is rolled out.

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