Our Story

It’s February 2019. Cofounders Marcus and Rhian have just moved into their first flat in London and can finally adopt a rescue greyhound. AKA the couch potato, AKA the perfect city companion. Each weekend the pair set off to volunteer with the greyhounds and help walk just a handful of the 80 rescues on site. Weekend after weekend, walk after walk, greyhound after greyhound.

Until one weekend. Dionne (then Gail) had just landed at the shelter after nearly three years of racing and she was due her first walk. Dionne bounds out of the kennels like a bundle of pure joy heading straight over to Marcus and Rhian. Their hearts were set and the ‘trial’ overnight stay became Dionne’s forever home.

During their volunteering, Marcus and Rhian learnt a heap about rescues, volunteers and the hard graft and sacrifice to keep a shelter running. Almost zero rescues in the UK receive government funding leaving over three million rescued, abandoned and abused animals relying on donations to survive.

Knowing that their personal donations wouldn’t be enough to make much of impact, Marcus and Rhian got to work on Sanctuary Coffee. A way to make the UK’s favourite morning kick-starter fund rescues.