Help Paradox Build The Future

Well. It’s been quite the year hasn’t it? 2020 has become somewhat of a dirty phrase only to be said in hushed tones... But we personally can only be grateful for the weird journey that we’ve been taken on. Though we’ve struggled, we’re still here- all of us. For me some of the overwhelm has only really hit this year, when we had a chance to pause. We’ve worked almost nonstop since the end of May. And the threat of burnout was very real. But last year gave us so many great things that’s it’s hard to stay mad at it for long. 

We’ve forged so many great relationships through the cafe and our design work in the last few months, and enriched many existing ones too. We feel that somehow this scary situation we’ve all found ourselves in involuntarily has created a wonderful connection between us all that may not have come about so organically under the “usual” circumstances (whatever that means nowadays). It’s been the light in the dark. 

Being open through subsequent lockdowns and restrictions has kept us hopeful that although we can’t yet plan too far into the future- the future exists. The cafe has been going from strength to strength since we reopened at the end of May and we’ve honestly been knocked off our feet by everyone’s support. Visitors old and new, regular and the not so regular. 

Hell, my plan was to keep this brief but it’s hard to fit so much gratitude into a few paragraphs ????

Okay, so we’re crowdfunding. Last time we were pretty desperate. We had no idea what the future had in store, no income and no government support and your every donation made our hearts explode. Although we unfortunately didn’t reach our target you really helped us hit the ground running. Made it possible for us to make the necessary adaptations to the space, pay some rent! Gave us hope. 

This time, we aren’t asking for donations. What we would love is for you to pre-pay for coffees, retail bags, design services etc (there are plenty of new rewards coming this month)

Real things that you can hold in your hands. 

What we need is to raise enough money to obtain the mayor’s match funding- just over £2000 in total - which will essentially mean your money is doubled. It will help us to breathe. And potentially close at the times it feels less pos

We have big dreams for Paradox.
But the next few months are still very uncertain. For all the great things- Being open during a global pandemic is also gut wrenching at times, weekends specifically when we still notice people visiting from out of London among other things. As cafe owners, there’s only so much we can control. Staying open is currently our only option- and no matter how safely we are operating unfortunately we cannot control the behaviour of others.

Shutting on the weekends may well be on the cards for us if security (which we are pushing for) is not brought back by Netil Market as soon as possible.
We’re not here for people who don’t care about other people. But business wise, that would leave quite a considerable dent for us. So here we are once again. Needing to raise our own support where the wider government has fallen short so that we can be more confident of survival. So that’s our priority.

To support the unknown future.

As ever, thank you for just being your wonderful selves. We’re always available via email, d/m’s on Instagram or indeed at the cafe if you have any questions or just need a chat.
We’re here, and you best believe one of the rewards is going to be a set of “Dogs of the Paradox” postcards...