An LGBTQ intersectional bookshop and community space in Shoreditch is fighting for its future after its investors backed out.
The Common Press has set a £100,000 fundraiser goal, which ensures it will be able to stay open, retain its staff and expand its shop to include a wheelchair-accessible toilet.
The bookshop asked for help from its community after transitioning to a Community Interest Company, a financially independent entity which may receive grants but does not classify as a charity.
The space is one of the few of its kind in London, as Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir, director, explained.
She said: “A lot of LGBTQ spaces are geared towards nightlife, but what we tried to do is a place you can go to during the day, without alcohol.
“Every four or five months, there’s a new gay bar run by gay men, opening very easily.
“The disparity, for me, is a big problem, where London needs to start representing the people that it serves”
The LGBTQ intersectional bookshop opened three years ago, at the initiative of ally investors who offered the space to Shaibu-Lenoir and her team as a gesture meant to encourage them to have a positive impact in the community.
She said: “It was never about creating profit.
“It was about building something to support the community.”
As the economy slowed down and profits started to fall post-pandemic, the investor announced to the bookshop that it would back out of the venture during pride month.
The £100,000 will ensure the space will enjoy stability ahead of the slower winter months.
Shaibu-Lenoir said: “We want to focus on the things that we love, serving and creating a safe space for our intersectional community.”
Community support was strained earlier this month, when The Common Press was attacked by two men who threw firecrackers into the store and ran away.
Shaibu-Lenoir said: “When stuff like that happens, it’s just really nice to have your community around you and you feel supported, you feel loved.”
Inside the bookstore, between the busy shelves, three young adults spoke of their attachment to the space.
Reader Em made a point to start coming to the cafe inside the store more, as a way of making an impact in supporting the space.
Rue said: “Downstairs they have a permanent wall photograph of different trans bodies, which was important to me when I brought my mother and my brother here.”
Almost 600 individual supporters have donated £40.000 so far, but people have also offered their time volunteering, writing grants, or raising money through personal events or at their workplace.
Image credit: @joycentrism / PresentedbyJo / Kenneth Lam
Join the discussion