East London bookshop and café described as a ‘haven’ to the LGBTQ+ community launches crowdfunder to stay open (@joycentrism/The Common Press)

A bookshop and cafe in East London, seen as a “haven” for the LGBTQ+ community, has launched a fund-raiser to help the venue to keep going.

The Common Press bookshop, in Shoreditch, has seen an “absolutely overwhelming” amount of support since launching its crowd-funder on Tuesday (13 August), and has already raised more than £8,000 ($10,300) of its £100,000 ($129,000) target.

The bookshop and cafe, which hosts LGBTQ+ events, launched the fund-raiser as the venue transitions to a Community Interest Company (CIC), a special type of business which exists to benefit a community, rather than private shareholders.

“It’s really important to have spaces not just focused on nightlife,” director Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir told PinkNews.

“We have a range of events during the evening, and we love them… but there are very few spaces where we can feel we belong during the day, where families can come in, where queer people of colour can come in, where trans people can come in.

“There aren’t a lot of other spaces that truly focus on being very intersectional and being very conscious about giving space and prioritising space for people [who] don’t often have that.”

The bookshop tends to attract “queer women, trans people, people who are neurodiverse, people who have been marginalised in different ways”, and The Common Press is a “space that prioritises coming together and building communities”, she added.

“Often, when people come in, they find somebody who’s like-minded sitting next to them having coffee, and they can collaborate, they can come together. It gives you hope that anything is possible.”

The shop, which is run by a “dedicated team of queer Black and indigenous people of colour, trans, non-binary individuals and queer women, opened in 2021 as part of a wider initiative called Glass House Projects. With the current investors no longer able to offer support, the venue is looking for funding to continue to exist as a CIC.

“By becoming a CIC, we ensure that our profits benefit the community directly and improve our access to essential grants and funding to become more financially sustainable,” the fund-raiser says.

The £100,000 will help keep the store’s doors open, retain staff, build a wheelchair-accessible toilet, and continue its business.

“[The funding] will give us the ability, once we’ve settled down, to have time to apply for grants,” Shaibu-Lenoir said.

“We’re also looking at next year, the next three years, five years, 10. It’s important to think about the longevity of our spaces and seeing the ways in which we can ensure that we carry on existing.”

The Common Press has more 7,000 books on its shelves. (Kenneth Lam/The Common Press)

High rents in the area and rising bills means “there will always be threats” to the continuation of the business, but The Common Press is in a “unique position”, in that it’s looking for donations to keep an existing successful business going, rather than start a new one.

“The silver lining is we wanted the community to see that a space like this is so necessary and vital,” Shaibu-Lenoir continued. “We know we can be sustainable, and we know we can build on the work that we started.”

The company was “touched” by the “overwhelming” amount of support so far.

“Other people have offered their time in terms of volunteering in the bookshop, other people want to help us to write grants. The amount of money we’ve received within the first 24 hours is so beautiful to see, but the people willing to support beyond just donating is also really important.”

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