Alana Cassidy, Founder
Why did you start Coffee, Cake & Kink?
I love coffee, cake & kink! Bringing them all together was the most natural thing for me to do. I wanted a space I could be comfortable being myself and knew that other people longed for it, too. There weren't, and still aren't, many places like that in London, except for few night time spaces. People were taking refuge in LGBT friendly pubs or cafes but they didn't have a space that they could call their own. We wanted to create a place where people who had never been to a club, or had never met someone who was into a particular subject could just sit down together, ask questions and just chat. The place where anyone walking in would see just ordinary people getting on with their lives.
I have always been on a mission of breaking down stereotypes, facilitating discussion and a free-flowing exchange of thoughts and ideas. What better way of doing that than making people comfy with a pot of great coffee, some yummy cakes and packing the place full of things that are both enjoyable and challenging, and bound to spark off stimulating conversations?
We offer a small number of focused high-impact, focused placements, unique and unlike any others - both in terms of the organisation, our culture, and our working practice.
Throughout its life, Coffee, Cake & Kink has be experienced unprecedented levels of volunteering. Indeed, it is the number of volunteers, typical of the charity, social and voluntary sectors that first clued us up as to our actual status as a social enterprise!
As a small, flexible organisation we always take care to tailor our staff levels to business needs. The number of our core staff fluctuates widely, ranging from 1 to 25 at any given time.