A coffee seller always to be seen with his van outside Cricklewood Station is pledging 50p from every bag of his own blend to save the local library.
James Colbourne, who owns and runs Cricklewood Coffee, is supporting the Friends of Cricklewood Library’s (FoCL) fundraising campaign as they battle to raise the final £28,000 needed by September 25 to reopen the building in Olive Road.
The 40-year-old entrepreneur, who lives in nearby Oak Grove, set up his business after being made redundant from a job in digital media.
He launched his stall outside the station in January having started off working Fridays and Saturdays at the Cricklewood market.
He recently launched his own community coffee blend, and will be donating 50p from each sale to community causes which need help.
He said: “I’ve started with the Cricklewood Library as that seems to be the most pressing cause at the moment with the time contraints they are facing. They have £28,000 to raise in just a few weeks. I thought I’d try to help them out. I probably can’t raise what they need but if I can put what I can and others too, there’s every chance they’ll make it.”
The Cricklewood branch was closed down alongside Barham, Kensal Rise, Tokyngton, Preston and Neasden libraries by Brent Council in 2011 to £1million a year.
FoCL applied for funding from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Kahn, who has pledged £40,000 to help rebuild the library but only if the friends can raise the full amount of approximately £120,000 by September 25.
The Living Spring Montessori Nursery, in St Michael’s Road, is also helping with a pledge of £700.
Sade Biobaku-Odusanya, the nursery’s founder, said: “Before the library closed in 2011 we used it on a weekly basis as a place to take the children. As a parent, the library was invaluable to me as my children were growing up.
“So many parents and children miss this resource and we need to bring it back.
“Literacy is key for everyone, especially young children. This will be an important hub for the whole community. I really hope they make it.”
Wendy Tyrrell, of FocL, said: “We really hope that other local businesses will see what James and Sade are doing and want to get involved and help us too. If every business in Cricklewood supported by giving £100 we’d smash our target in no time.”
People can help by texting CRWD01 £10 to 70070 to donate £10.00. Or they can still pledge at spacehive.com/cricklewood-library.
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