Mad Coffee raises €2k for suicide awareness
By Hayden Moore
A FLOURISHING new coffee trailer has donated over €2,000, which was raised through the sale of coffee, for a charity that supports and educates people on mental health and suicide awareness.
Mad Coffee, a brand new rustic-style coffee trailer based on the Old Blessington Road, donated all of the proceeds raised through coffee sales on May 9 to Shannon’s Hopeline.
Gareth Francis and comedian Fabu D with the hosts of podcast ‘Hard Chats in Hard Hats’ David and Darragh
Shannon’s Hopeline was set up by Sandra Kelleher in memory of her young daughter Shannon who died by suicide in 2012.
The trailer opened from 5am on May 9 - coinciding with Darkness Into Light - to also raise awareness for mental health while fundraising.
“On the day, all coffee proceeds went towards Shannon’s Hopeline,” owner Gareth Francis, who also runs Kickstart Fitness, told The Echo.
“We sell sandwiches as well, but from the coffee sales, we ended up donating €2,050 to the girls over there.
“I did a couple of fundraisers for them before through the gym, so I’d have a bit of a relationship there with them and would work closely with them that way.
“A friend of mine [died by] suicide a few years ago and me and a few of my mates got together to do something for suicide awareness.
“We wanted to try avoid doing it for some of the bigger charities and looked for a smaller charity, that is still doing great work, but could probably need the funds more.
“That’s when we started fundraising for Shannon’s Hopeline, they’re great, they are overwhelmed with the support and they really appreciate it so we’re happy to help.”
Having started trading just five-weeks-ago, Gareth is happy with how the business has gone so far.
Gareth, who has developed a following on social media, was able to leverage his online popularity to gauge the public’s interest in the new business and help push its opening to a larger audience.
“It’s been going pretty good so far.
“A lot of it is weather dependent, if it’s raining people will probably go over to The Square or go in somewhere to get out of the rain.
“But luckily the weather has been nice for us.
“When the lockdown hit, the gym [Kickstart Fitness] had to close so I had a bit more time on my hands.
“I spent a bit of my time going around to these different trailers trying the coffee and the food, and then I just got a bit of a quirk for it.
“I bought the box and it was literally just a shell.
“So we knuckled down and fitted it out, I designed it, came up with the name and we sorted out all the carpentry with it.”
Employing three qualified baristas, Mad Coffee has really caught on in the Springfield community with people popping by for a coffee, smoothie or toastie when out on their walks.
For anyone affected by issues raised in this article, help is available at Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.ie;
Aware 1800 80 48 48 (depression, anxiety);
Pieta House 1800 247 247 or email mary@pieta.ie (suicide, self-harm);
Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19) and
Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s).
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