27/08/2026
🚨 BREAKING: Birmingham Community Hub EthyOn Café Locked by City Council
MEDIA APPEAL: We are calling on journalists, editors, broadcasters and news organisations to cover the closure of EthyOn Café and hear from the community affected.
EthyOn Café, a Birmingham community hub supporting people experiencing homelessness, displacement and hardship, has been locked following repossession action by Birmingham City Council.
Located at 13A Cannon Street, Birmingham, EthyOn Café provides more than food and refreshments. It operates as a grassroots community space offering food support, digital inclusion, training, community connections and practical assistance, including a National Databank and Multibank hub supporting people who cannot afford data or devices.
The Council has declined to properly engage with the rent dispute unless EthyOn is legally represented. The volunteer led organisation is now fundraising for an initial £3,000 legal fund to secure representation.
EthyOn also disputes the handling of a Covid related rent dispensation, saying a 47% rent reduction was agreed only after forfeiture action had begun and following pressure from local councillors. It further disputes whether the premises met commercial letting standards during the tenancy, citing service failures and safety hazards it says were not properly addressed.
This is not simply a dispute over one café. It raises wider questions about the treatment of small community organisations supporting homeless people and vulnerable communities, particularly as Birmingham City Council continues to sell council assets and reduce spending on community infrastructure.
More than 50 people attended a public meeting on 13 August 2026 calling for EthyOn to remain open.
📣 We are asking journalists, editors, broadcasters and news organisations to look into this story, speak to those affected and consider covering the situation.
If you are a journalist or media organisation interested in the story, please get in touch.
📩 Press contact: [email protected]
📞 Sam Alim: +44 (0)7747 396836
📸 Media assets: ethyon.whatson.guide/media-and-press
🌐 Website: ethyon.whatson.guide
📍 EthyOn Café: 13A Cannon Street, Birmingham, B2 5EN
Support EthyOn by donating here: gofund.me/3d19b592a
Please tag a journalist, editor, broadcaster or news organisation who should know about this story.
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