It means I'll be able to eat today.

11/05/2022

The Pay It Forward (PIF) Voucher Scheme was created by founder and trustee Theresa. She initially wanted to set something up as a means to help the homeless without supporting street begging. Through the help of Todd from Bare Necessities, Jo and Tej, they are now a registered charity.

Currently, the vouchers are printed by a family run business, given free to shops and cafes, sold to customers, then passed on to people in need so they can buy food, non-alcoholic drink, and groceries. The voucher can only currently be redeemed in the shop/cafe it was bought from. Vouchers vary between £2.50 and £5, depending on the preference of the business.

Current participating businesses are:

Thrive Cafe and Full Circle (Norfolk St)
B-Tap Baron on (St. Andrews St)
Alamin (Mill Rd)
Black Cat Cafe (Mill Rd)
Harvest (Mill Rd)
The Edge Cafe (Mill Rd)
Pod Orlem Polish Shop (Milton Rd)

“The vouchers are always so gratefully received within our community and we’re so thankful for the support of Theresa and the team”

You can buy the vouchers either over the counter or some businesses also sell them through www.pifgiftvouchers.org.

To receive a voucher, you can approach one of the supporting organisations. These are currently Wintercomfort, Jimmy’s, Cyrenians, Cambridge Housing Society, Romsey Mill Family Centre and Cambridge Women’s Resource Centre (CWRC).

A Cambridge Housing Society resident said ‘When I got my Pay It Forward voucher, I was really pleased because it means I’ll be able to eat today’ (John*, a resident at Railway House).

Wintercomfort, the homeless support centre, stated that ‘PIF vouchers are such a wonderful way to give our homeless service users choice. We distribute the vouchers here at Wintercomfort, enabling people to treat themselves to the items of their choosing when they wish to do so. The vouchers are always so gratefully received within our community and we’re so thankful for the support of Theresa and the team’.

PIF is currently looking for more shops and cafes to stock the vouchers, enabling them to help more people in need. If you are a business in Cambridge and interested in working with Theresa, please contact her here: pifvouchers@outlook.com.

You can find PIF on the Street Support Cambridgeshire website, their own website, Facebook and Twitter.

* Names are changed for anonymity.

It means I'll be able to eat today.

#ittakesacity