Kahaila means life in community. It was with this aim to bring life into community that we opened a non profit café on Brick Lane in 2012.
Over the last 7 years we have been building community through live music and arts events, book clubs, community bring and share meals and more.
The success of the café also enabled us to develop innovative responses to some of the social injustices that existed in our local community. These include: Reflex - a mentoring and education programme in a women’s prison, Luminary - a bakery to train and support women from vulnerable backgrounds into employment, Ella's Home - providing a safe home for women who have suffered sexual exploitation and Brew - a barista and employment training course for those who have experienced homelessness.
As a community, a charity and a church, we have been able to have a profound impact on the lives of hundreds of people in Tower Hamlets and East London. To help us operate, we have benefitted from paying charitable rates in our Brick Lane café, as we do in our premises in the City of London and in Hackney.
However, Tower Hamlets Council have recently reversed this decision and have demanded that we now pay business rates in our Brick Lane Café. They have also asked for retrospective payments for the last 3 years, totalling £32,000. Despite suggesting a repayment plan, we have been told that we need to pay £15,000 before the end of March.
As a non-profit café, and a charity, we are going to struggle to be able to raise this amount of money in the café in the short amount of time that we have. This is where you can come in. Please help us in raising the £15,000 we need to so that we can continue to have a positive impact in our local community.
Thank you