SideDoor was a London-based employment initiative I co-created to make work more accessible for people moving out of homelessness.

 

Rather than expecting someone to step immediately into a full-time role, it offered small, paid shifts that built confidence, experience and momentum over time.

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The model connected people with local coffee shops, hotel kitchens and other businesses needing reliable cover during busy periods. For people who had recently moved into housing or were living in temporary accommodation, a short shift could be a manageable way to return to routine and responsibility. For people still sleeping rough, back-of-house and more casual 'manual' work created a flexible first point of contact with employment.

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SideDoor recognised that resilience is not built through pressure alone. Participants could gain work experience, strengthen their CVs and become familiar with workplace expectations without the overwhelming commitment of full-time employment. Each task became a practical step towards stability, choice and longer-term opportunity.

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Developed with Goldman Sachs volunteers, SideDoor brought employers and people with lived experience together to rethink the route into work. Pret A Manger was among its project partners, and the initiative helped demonstrate the value of gradual, supported employment pathways for people who may not yet be ready—or able—to move straight into a conventional full-time job.

 

Pret’s continuing homelessness-focused employment work includes its Rising Stars programme, a further collaboration, which provides training and jobs to people rebuilding after homelessness