London vegan café burgled

Horrible news but we can help.

Universally-adored Black Cat Café of Hackney was broken into last night and burgled. Followers of the vegan eatery were startled this morning when the café posted the following photo to social media.

I don’t need to say how upset all of the Black Cat co-op members are following this incident. They pour their heart and souls into making the café not just one of the best vegan places to eat on the planet, but also a vital hub that supports their community.

They give opportunities to independent chefs. They sell vegan groceries. They allow space for a veg box scheme for local residents. They raise money for charities. Heck, they even let me host my annual Day of the Dead dinner in their space.

To put it simply, London is a better city thanks to Black Cat and their tireless commitment to doing better for animals and people.

To show them how much we love and support them, I have set up a JustGiving page in order to help get them back on their feet as soon as possible.

Some of the expenses they could use our help with include:

• repairing front door
• replacing stolen cash
• replacing or repairing stolen till system
• covering lost revenue due to the café being closed on the busiest day of the week

As you can see, this is going to be a very expensive ordeal for Black Cat. Yes, some of the expenses might be covered by insurance but as we all know this can take a long time to be sorted.

This is about taking action now. We need to get this money to Black Cat as soon as possible. We want them to feel supported by their community, just as they have supported us for years.

Please give what you can and help the campaign by sharing widely.

I have set the target at £1,000 but any extra money raised over the target will be given to Black Cat to help them with any other expenses related to improving the space. When £1,000 is reached, Josh and I will pay Black Cat with our own money in order to get it to them urgently. We will claim this cash back from the JustGiving funds once the campaign is over, while donating any extra to the café.

Click here to donate now.