Watch our full video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0racenlZao
Hi Guys! This is Lauren and Nadia, friends and founders of Spilt Milk. We're both final year students based in Hackney, London with a passion and love for the creative industries and of course, coffee!
Our mission is to bring people together through art, and help young, developing creative's in our local community, grow and expand. Which is why we're raising funds to open a pop-up Art Cafe to give London's amazing creatives an awesome social space to exhibit their work for free.
We think London can be a tough place, especially for those that dedicate their time to creating and making London so special and artistic. Many student artists struggle to survive and fund their creative projects, and due to the huge financial pressures of student debt, sky high rent, and London living costs - it can be a lot to also fund supplies, let alone launch themselves as artists. So this project supports local artists by giving them a platform to show their work, build their brands, network and launch themselves into the public eye! We hope to be giving young, developing the artists the start and support they deserve.
Not only that - we'll be creating a beautiful space in which to work and relax in, surrounded by inspiring original art work. We want everyone to feel welcome at the art cafe, and want to create a place to socialise, enjoy delicious coffee and admire great art.
This is a huge project that has been created from an idea and brought to life through creative resourcefulness! But to really make anything happen, we need a little more. We've already recieved backing from the University of Westminster Alumni fund and this will get us on our way, but now we need to fund the essentials.
To set up a pop-up Art Café in East London, our shopping list looks a little like this:
- Securing a Venue for 3-7 days - £1500+
- Equipment (Espresso machine, coffee grinder, fridge, kitchen units, blender etc) £300+
- Fixtures – Lighting, Counter, Signs £200
- Furniture – Table and Chairs £300+
- Variable costs – Hot Drinks related (coffee beans, milk, soy, tea bags, flavoured teas, hot chocolate syrup, syrups) £200
- Variable Costs – Sundries (coffee cups, stirrers, napkins, sugar) £40+
- Variable Costs – Food (Sandwiches, Salads, Cakes, Croissants etc) £150+
- Marketing and Advertising Costs - (Posters, flyers etc) £100+
From the pop-up, the business will be pitched to potential investors who can give it the backing for a permanent location, having seen it in full operation. This means that Spilt Milk is a real chance of making my entrepreneur dreams come true - a fantastic oppurtunity that with hard work and time could easily become a permanent London destination, giving myself and other young ambitious people real jobs.
To continually support London's creatives, we will strive to continue this project, no matter what. Even if continue to operate through several events, we'll keep pushing for change with all the power we have.
4 of our fantastic artists have agreed to donate signed prints of their work and orginial pieces to our campaign, meaning you could get your hands on some exclusive limited edition art work from the very people you're helping to support. Lucky you! Check out some of their work below.
Junior Adesanya https://www.junioradesanya.com/
Lily Kemp http://www.lilykemp.com/
Georgie Whitney https://www.instagram.com/whitneygeorgie/?hl=en
Balbina Bochuzynska http://liquidfruit.tumblr.com/
Plans for our launch are in full swing, with the location due to be secured and the ordering of our equipment soon to be completed. Our artists are ready to go, with creations for our launch underway.
We're all very excited to get confirming, but without your help it could be drastically limited and downsized, with no real exposure or hopes of it becoming a real business. Not only that, we can't do a disservice to the brilliant creatives of London who cant wait for (what will be for some,) their first exhibitions. Your donations really will make all our dreams come true!!
Also, be sure to follow our journey at instagram.com/spiltmilkcoffee
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and we can't wait to see you there ;)
Lauren and Nadia
Founders of Spilt Milk
A special thank you to all of my fantastic artists, and incredible videographer Luke Baxter. Also to Pizza Pilgrims for letting us use their pizza pop-up to film in and feeding us delicious slices! And to Cowling & Wilcxox for letting us film in their store.