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Jo raised £7,753 from 239 supporters

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Closed 30/04/2020

0%
£7,753
raised of £6,000 target by 239 supporters

    Iʼve raised £7,753 to help save our social enterprise cafe during and for after the Covid-19 crisis

    Whitstable
    Funded on Thursday, 30th April 2020

    Don't have time to donate right now?

    Story

    We are a social enterprise cafe based by the seaside in Whitstable. Our passion is serving good food that everyone, from all walks of life, can enjoy; our purpose is combating social isolation and being a hub for the community. It’s that combination of passion and purpose that makes us unique and gets us out of the bed in the morning. But due to Coronavirus all that is under threat.

    Despite looking into every possible angle, the cafe isn't going to receive any Government-backed assistance. We have applied for funding, but there’s no guarantee that we will receive any. So, we’re asking you, if you can, to donate to ensure our survival. It will mean we can continue to help people right now AND be in a position to re-open and support the community again in the coming months. Here are some of the initiatives under threat if we don’t reach our target:

    - 100 free meals a week delivered to isolated and vulnerable people and families within the CT5 area– we are working in partnership with Whitstable Umbrella Centre and Food Friends as a side project of the Red Zebra Covid-19 emergency response.

    - Pay it forward –this vital scheme welcomes a wide demographic into our cafe and ensures vulnerable people from rough sleepers to single parents are able to access a free, nutritious meal in comfortable & friendly surroundings (during the Coronavirus crisis all donations to our Pay if forward scheme are being divertedto the free meals project with Food Friends).

    - Supported placements with local colleges and The Shaw Trust -students with sensory learning conditions join our team and are able to undertake supervised work in the kitchen and cafe and gain confidence and employment skills.

    - Jobs for our wonderful team –we have the best staff who go above and beyond for our cafe, customers and students. We want to ensure they have jobs to come back when this crisis ends. Your donation will also help us to part cover staff salaries during March when our revenue fell by 50% due to the crisis.

    - Our wonderful community café –we want to continue serving our community and have a vibrant space where people from all walks of life are welcome. When this crisis ends, there will still be so much work to do, and if we don’t cover our overheads now, we won’t be able to re-open and help our community get back on its feet.

    We know this is a worrying time for all of us and you might not be able to afford to donate right now. You can help us by spreading the word 😊THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support!

    You can find out more about us:

    Website:https://theumbrellacafe.co.uk/

    Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/theumbrellacafe

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theumbrellacafe/

    Twitter:https://twitter.com/umbrella_cafe

    What if we get funding/raise more than our initial target?

    Our target is a moveable, so if we receive all the funding we have collaboratively applied for we will be able to decrease the total amount. If there is any surplus on the crowd funder we will put this towards our pay it forward scheme, which during the Coronavirus crisis is being used for the free meals project with Food Friends. We have applied for enough funding to cover 12 weeks, but it is now clear that the crisis will last longer. Additional funds will allow us to continue the project beyond 12 weeks before needing to apply for further emergency funding.

    Updates

    4

    • Jo5 years ago
      Jo

      Jo

      5 years ago
      Update from the Page owner

      I have just sent 223 thank yous out for donations received into the crowdfunder since Tuesday - what an amazing thing to be able to do in the middle of all that is going on world-wide. We never wanted to have to ask but we are really humbled and quite a lot teary reading through the lovely comments. Day 4 - we are at 121% and so chuffed - thank you for continuing to donate and help secure our safety. Love from Jo, Jenny & Caroline xxx

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    • Jo5 years ago
      Jo

      Jo

      5 years ago

      Some of our dazed thoughts : 1.We can't get our heads around reaching 100%! 2. At the moment you've all helped us reach a much safer position; we are awaiting news on funding & until we hear positive our future still isn't certain. Anything extra is amazing to help us cover fixed overheads & reopen. 3. Surplus beyond what we need will be put into the Food Friends project we are collaborating on. Anything in surplus when the crisis is over will go on our cafe pay it forward which is used by vulnerable people from all walks of life everyday.

      Update from the Page owner

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    • Jo5 years ago
      Jo

      Jo

      5 years ago
      Update from the Page owner

      We haven't got round to thanking you all individually yet and we will do as we appreciate every single donation and share that everyone has given us! We always knew our small town was a special place xxxx SO far, thanks to 212 WONDERFUL people in Whitstable & beyond (plus countless more kind people who shared via family, friends & colleagues) our community cafe is now in a much safer position.Thanks to this incredible support we did hit our target in TWENTY FOUR HOURS!

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    5 years ago

    Jo started crowdfunding

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    Page last updated on: 4/17/2020 18.01

    Supporters

    239

    • Amanda Jones

      Amanda Jones

      Apr 17, 2020

      Keep doing what you’re doing. Would love to give more.

      £20.00

    • Nancy Clark

      Nancy Clark

      Apr 13, 2020

      This is from Albie, he wanted to donate too xxx

      £3.00

    • Michelle

      Michelle

      Apr 13, 2020

      Great work!

      £30.00

    • David Daly

      David Daly

      Apr 9, 2020

    • Bettina

      Bettina

      Apr 8, 2020

      The very best to you all! Thank you for your amazing work in the community. Bettina

      £100.00

    • Mark Hardy

      Mark Hardy

      Apr 8, 2020

      Keep up the great work guys! X

      £40.00

    • Emily Turner

      Emily Turner

      Apr 7, 2020

      Keep going

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    Jo

    Jo

    Whitstable