Words by Smiley Team
A community of book lovers in Wales are working together to keep their beloved bookshop in business.
Bookish opened its doors on the high street of Crickhowell in 2010. It started small, then moved to a new location in 2017, expanding to encompass two floors of books, a cafe, a bar and even an events space.
"I love my bookshop, and I know that it’s become a huge social hub for the community, alongside attracting people to the town from far and wide," say Emma Corfield-Walters, the bookshop's owner.
This year, our landlord has decided to sell the building, giving us the first opportunity to buy it and secure the future of the bookshop. However, as we all know, the past 18 months have been somewhat horrific for small businesses like ours, and although it’s a fabulous opportunity, we have very little in the way of funds.|
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“Losing the bookshop is not an option," says Emma, as she doesn't think the town will be the same. "I will never be the same, and then there’s our fabulous team to think of too," she adds.
“We’ve all put so much time, love and hard work into creating a space for everybody and we have made so many wonderful friends through bookselling, authors, publishers, other booksellers and of course our amazing customers.
“We need to make all this happen to meet a deadline of 31 January 2022, as otherwise the building could be offered on the open market, and well, the possibilities are unthinkable."
Emma has set up a fundraiser, with the goal of reaching £30,000 to help them meet the costs of purcashing the building and securing their future. “I can’t even tell you what it would mean to have that security to be able to plan, to campaign, to support and to thrive," she says.
People have been donating from all over the place - even countries as far flung as Australia – in the hopes of keeping the independent bookshop alive.
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One person commented: “We cannot lose this excellent asset to the town and all the hard work that goes into it.”
Someone else said: “No idea where Crickhowell is, so I've never been here and likely never will. But community, independent bookshops and reading are important. Good luck.”
Another customer wrote: “This is my favourite shop in the whole wide world, a real gem!”
Thankfully, in less than a week, the fundraiser already reached its halfway mark, with more than 400 people signing up to help.
“I can’t thank you enough, we are so lucky to be part of such an amazing community of book lovers," says Emma. "Hopefully, over the next six days, we can get our campaign shared far and wide, and can move forward in confidence and plan for our future.”
To help keep Bookish on the high street you can continue to contribute to the fundraiser.
