Wake up Café. Does it ring a bell? Are we going to talk about the new brand of coffee? Or the best practices for waking up in the morning and saving time during the day? Not at all folks! Wake up Café is the name of a great association created by Clotilde Gilbert in 2014.
Did you know that in France, 80.000 people are incarcerated every year, out of which 60% who leave go back to prison within 5 years, and 30% within 6 months. One inmate costs society around €50,000 per year.

WKF’s mission is to support inmates who are motivated to reach a sustainable reintegration into society. It acts on three pillars: empowerment, guidance and awareness.

And as a key leader in the digital scene, having a lot of expertise in building the future and creating job opportunities, we believe that we have the power to contribute to Wake up Café. This, not only financially, but also through transmitting knowledge, sharing our network and educate the market about the importance of taking a stand in this question. That’s why a few weeks ago, Aurelie, Stan and I went to Boulogne instead of Sentier. 22th of September was a dedicated day to the Wake up Café association.

That day, the sun was shining. We entered the premises, where Clotilde welcomed us with open arms. A special atmosphere emanated from this place: the unique scent of coffee flowed from the kitchen, some Wakers (name of those great people that belong to the association) were chatting on sofas while others enjoyed the sunshine outside. It felt like home, even though it’s the first time for the three of us.

The morning was about “Recovery Plan”, with a focus on the professions around the circular economy, short circuits, agriculture and urban planning, where we talked about Back Market and Agricool. We also discussed the financial and non-financial aid available to young people. The morning went quickly and, following these discussions we shared pizzas with the Wakers for lunch. We discuss with the Wakers, discover what they like, what they dislike, their ambitions and wishes for the future. While some of them aimed to pass the driving license in the coming months, some were setting up their own business.

In the afternoon, we joined the “Café Philo” workshop. The theme was love, and more precisely fidelity. During two hours, we defined this notion, what it means to us and our relatives, and debate the meaning of some quotes. I specifically remember one from Stendhal : (FR) “Il y a dans la fidélité de la paresse, de la peur, du calcul, du pacifisme, de la fatigue et quelquefois de la fidélité.”

Today, we have the exact same feeling we had at the end of the day, and specifically remember the huge amount of smiles and laughs. Kudos to you Clothilde and your whole team: your ambition for WKF has been reached: the association offers rehabilitation courses, individual support and a community, with the goal of fighting recidivism and isolation!

If this subject and initiative is making your heart beat like it does to us, we’d be more than happy to tell you more about it.

The daphni team