Help Harehole find its legs

Hi, I’m Dawn, the Venue Comms person at Harehole Melbourne.

So many of us in Naarm (the area around Melbourne) have positive connections and memories of Hares & Hyenas Fitzroy. It has been a place for queer awakenings, study and coffee retreats, celebrations and solemn stillness. For myself, it was the place where I had my first professional photos taken after I came out as trans, and where I found a wonderfully supportive audience for performing my poetry.

Last year Hares & Hyenas turned 30 years young, with 15 years of that time at the Johnston Street,  Fitzroy, location. That year Hares & Hyenas embarked on a new adventure and decided to split the business in two: Hares & Hyenas bookshop at the Victorian Pride Centre, St Kilda, owned and managed by Rowland; and Harehole Melbourne, continuing in Fitzroy, focusing on events, streaming, community engagement and retail, with Crusader at the helm.

 

Last year was also the second year of the extended Covid lockdowns, during which the bookshop lost its staff and then its events profile, and for much of the time was restricted to online sales. In response, the Books by Bike home delivery program began, which saw a dozen volunteer cyclists deliver parcels in all directions but mostly to loyal customers in Thornbury, Northcote, Brunswick and Preston.

Now in 2022 it is time for Harehole to emerge from its long transformative slumber. It is in desperate need of community support to get on its legs and become the ethical community venue we remember, love and know it will be. Before Covid-19, the venue was averaging four to five events per week and had seven resident arts groups. Today, we are lucky to have that in a month. We are in a difficult transitional period building all new systems separately from Hares & Hyenas to establish ourselves as a multi-purpose venue, retail outlet and community asset.

 

The Harehole has never looked better. Much room has been added to the main room with the removal of several bookcases and a renovated performance and meeting space in the former garage, opening into a newly designed courtyard garden, with everything repurposed for maximum disability access. This area has been perfect for meetings, book clubs, workshops, kids events and meetings, working into our existing open-air thoroughfare. The Green Room has been transformed and now combines a purpose-built make-up area, roundtable meeting space with streaming capacity, and displays art on its walls and a wall of books for sale.  Over time we hope to install a lift and to open up the vast space upstairs for community use.

 

We need your support to give Harehole a fighting chance. If we can line things up we can sign a 5-year lease on this massive Fitzroy building and commit to our mission for the long haul. But without a healthy cashflow, we are at risk of closure within weeks. 

 

Your donation will help us keep our doors open, pay our staff and foot repair bills, but more importantly it will invest in community projects that shine under our roof. It will mean we can commit to a month-long celebration of trans, gender diverse and nonbinary life and culture in November, building community art walls in the lead-up.

 

We know times are tough so if you cannot donate, please share news of this fundraiser or come in and have a coffee or tea, and check out our incredible range of collectible books, music and art. If you are an artist, an events organiser or want to have a celebration of your own, reach out because we would love to have you here.

With love,

Dawn and the Harehole Team

Photo credit, first to last: Crusader Hillis; David Pattinson; Crusader Hillis (third and fourth).

Banner photo by Crusader Hillis.