Milton Keynes firefighters' coffee company hands out 20,000 free cups to frontline workers during lockdown - raising thousands for charity in the process

Tom Taylor, from Olney, and Matt Broxton set up an online coffee company because 'all key workers deserve a decent cup of coffee' and that the instant coffee at the fire stations they both worked at was ‘terrible’ and ‘tasted like tarmac’.

The pair first got started with one second hand industrial roaster, and now their coffee is being manufactured on a grand scale in the south west of England.

Their company, Frontline Coffee, has sold nearly 5,000kg of coffee so far, which is the equivalent of around 700,000 cups, with 20,000 of those going direct to the frontline for free during the UK lockdown in the spring.

The 28-year-olds, who both have a number of family members working in frontline services, said they have been donating all of the company's profit to emergency service and health charities.

Tom said: “Our emergency and health services are the best in the world, but they are only the best because of the people that make them up. We strive to be a company which supports these amazing people."

Matt said: “Me and Tom both have a passion for real coffee, we always used to joke about how terrible the instant coffee was at the fire station.

"In the fire service after you’ve been out on a ‘shout’ to a house fire, or had to deal with a difficult situation, it’s a typically British thing to do to have a coffee or cup of tea."

Matt said the pair made it 'their mission' to help out key workers in hospitals, police, fire and ambulance stations during the pandemic lockdown 'one coffee bean at a time'.

He said: “When lockdown happened and key workers were dealing with the enormity of Covid-19, we felt these people would be in even more need of a good cup of coffee when they finally sat down for a break.

“Our mission is also to raise awareness about the great work our frontline services do and raise money for the respective charities. We’re absolutely delighted to have raised more than £17,000 so far.”

The charities which the company is donating to include NHS Charities Together, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, The Ambulance Staff Charity and The Firefighters Charity.

Frontline Coffee has taken off so rapidly, the owners said, that Matt has left his job as a firefighter with the London Fire Brigade to focus on the social enterprise full-time.

Matt said: “We never expected Frontline Coffee to take off like this but it grew legs so we had to make a decision that one of us would have to take it on full-time. We decided that I would be better pushing it further on a day-to-day basis.

"We didn’t want to look back in 10 years’ time and say ‘what if?'.

"We had spoken quite a few times about setting up something for charity and giving something back. The sudden arrival of Covid-19 brought Frontline Coffee forward quicker than either of us ever imagined.

It has just been an amazing journey so far.”

Looking ahead, the pair are preparing for a second wave of the coronavirus.

Matt said: “Now more than ever, we aim to support our key workers through this next set of challenging times.”