Brixton Cycles saved by crowdfunding!

London’s imperilled workers’ cooperative, Brixton Cycles has successfully crowdfunded the £40k it needed to keep going, in less than a week. More than 900 people went onto the Crowdfunder website to help out. The current premises are going to make way for luxury flats in 2016, so the money will go towards re-locating to different premises.

The new target is now £80K – but the full amount required to move has been estimated at between £120K and £150K, so there’s still a way to go. Still, excellent news!

You can help out too, by clicking here.

Here’s the press release in full:

London’s oldest worker-owned bike cooperative has been saved by the crowd, after a £40K crowdfunding campaign hit its target in less than a week.

Brixton Cycles – named ‘London’s best small bike retailer’ by the London Cycling Awards – officially launched its campaign on Crowdfunder.co.uk on Thursday evening (22 October) and hit its target just before 7pm last night, exactly five days later.

The campaign’s public launch was preceded by a private preview to the shop’s nearest and dearest, on Wednesday 21st, which generated more than 25% of funds towards the crowdfunding total. The campaign now has a new target of £80,000 with 28 days left to go.

Brixton Cycles is fundraising to find a new home in Brixton, after discovering that the shop’s current premises are to be demolished to make way for luxury flats in early 2016, as part of the gentrification of the area.

The cooperative estimates the total cost of securing, renovating and moving into a new space as between £120,000 and £150,000. The initial crowdfunding target of £40K was the minimum Brixton Cycles’ needed to proceed with phase one of the move. However, support is still needed to help cover their total moving costs.

Whereas up until the £40K mark, the campaign was all-or-nothing, all funds raised from this point will be secure and will definitely be received by the team. The more money can be raised, the better the new shop will be and the sooner it will be able to open in a new home.

The secret of the community-focused business’s crowdfunding success is thought to be the outstanding reputation it has established serving South London’s cyclists and the Brixton community over the last 32 years. A launch party for the campaign held at Brixton East on Thursday night attracted more than 200 guests.

The shop has also had great support from its extended networks, with suppliers (such as Specialized UK and Ison Distribution) donating brand new bicycles and parts to raise money for the campaign, local businesses (such as Brixton Brewery and Cupped) offering their time and wares, and fellow biking groups (including Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op) sending out personal appeals to their networks, requesting support for Brixton Cycles’ campaign. 

The campaign has also received the endorsement of Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, bicycle icon Keith Bontrager and award-winning actor Michael Smiley, among many others.

Brixton Cycles longest-serving coop member, Lincoln Romain, who has been with the shop for 26 years, said:

“The generosity shown so far has been overwhelming! We’re humbled by the awesomeness of everybody who’s supported us – from the smallest donation to the largest.

“We’ve had loads of pledges from non-cyclists, who want to support the cause and what we stand for. That’s amazing!”

He added: “Bu this is just the beginning. We still need help to secure our future premises and to continue our presence in the community. We don’t want to just survive, but to thrive!”

The crowdfunding campaign is live on Crowdfunder.co.uk until 25 November. http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-brixton-cycles.

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.

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