Project Brighton: Simon Cobb from Stoneham Bakehouse on how a successful crowdfunding campaign is set to bring the therapeutic benefits of baking bread to individuals and the community

Stoneham Bakehouse, Sussex’s only Community Supported Bakery, has recently reached its Crowdfunder target: raising over £23000 in a fortnight to equip its new bakery in Poets’ Corner, Hove. From the start back in November 2014, and until a couple of months ago, the Stoneham Bakehouse team had been baking in borrowed oven space around the neighbourhood – Pizzaface, The Hive, my own kitchen, in fact we’d baked all over the place.

However, at the start of the year we moved to a permanent home at 2 Stoneham Road; right next door to the former site of Clark’s bakery which served the neighbourhood until the ‘60s. Over the last few months we’ve been sanding, filling, and painting, to get the space ready to become a bakery. However, with high prices for commercial ovens and other bakery equipment, we needed to secure funding before we could complete the conversion job.

As a not-for-profit social enterprise, Stoneham Bakehouse is set up as a Community Interest Company, with assets locked into the community. We’ve been running for over two years and have built up a crowd of supporters: people who love our bread, but also love the way we use breadmaking to combat isolation, depression, and encourage community cohesion. Crowdfunding was the obvious choice for us to try to get the necessary funds. It enabled the community around us to quite literally buy into what we do.

Our premises will act as a bakery and bread shop but also a hub for our work with the community

There are many crowdfunding platforms out there, but we went with Crowdfunder; I’m really pleased we did. The site itself was easy to work, but the best part of their service was the coaching provided by their staff. They offered great advice as to the best way to do things, and were sending personal motivational messages throughout the campaign. We felt it was really important to give those people who wanted to pledge their support a good deal, so we made an effort to make rewards valuable. The value for some rewards came in the form of things we gave in return (from tote bags, to bread, to breadmaking classes), but there was an alternate social value too.

For some pledges the reward was that someone in the community on a low income got a place on one of our workshops, or got some bread. We’re very proud of the fact that, thanks to our amazing backers, we’re now going to be able to offer Hove Luncheon Club members almost 200 loaves, and be able to fund 17 spaces on workshops.

Opening around Easter, our premises on Stoneham Road will act as a bakery and bread shop for some of the week, but also be a hub for our work with the community. Kneading, mixing, rolling dough and inhaling aromas from the oven… every aspect of the process is proven to be therapeutic. We’ll be continuing to have wellbeing as a focus to our business, and we’re looking at ways we can further support the mental health of the groups we work with.

If you’d like to find out more about Stoneham Bakehouse, or would be interested in getting involved, please do get in contact with Simon Cobb at:
07786927110, info@stonehambakehouse.org.uk, www.stonehambakehouse.org.uk, www.facebook.com/stonehambakehouse, www.twitter.com/stonehambake