Please help us save South Street

My name is Rowan and I am asking for your help.

If you know South Street then you will know that we are more than just a cafe.

Against all the odds, we have been in business for fourteen years.

When we opened we realised that in order to make a go of it, we needed to make our space available to everyone.

We run two book groups, a colouring club, a knitting group and mindfulness and meditation sessions. We also host the Green Party once a month and we provide a space for local artists to exhibit their work. We also give shelf space to local makers to sell their work.

We have a book and jigsaw exchange.

We became a community centre and began to grow Old Isleworth; we started the Old Isleworth Market and we took on the lease of number 13 Shrewsbury Walk so that Manu could open a greengrocers.

Then we started a Charity Shop, money from that goes towards feeding those most in need in our community.

We raise £24,000 a year which we distribute through vouchers for the Greengrocer and to the food pantry at The Bridgelink Centre on the Ivybridge Estate.

We organise community events on Shrewsbury Walk, Christmas Carols, Jubilee and Coronation celebrations.

We have a 'pay it forward' book in the cafe, and we are always here to help and advise the most vulnerable through our links with Community Solutions.

We bought a florist to Old Isleworth: finding Camomile Flower Design a shop to rent.

I think that I can safely say that we are the heart and soul of Old Isleworth.

We are in trouble: Covid, Brexit and the energy crisis mean that all of our costs have gone up by a third, in some instances they have doubled, the energy crisis hit us particularly hard as we weren't eligible for any grants.

We can't put up our prices to reflect our massively increased costs without making our offering unaffordable.

We have asked for help from Hounslow Council, who are our landlords, when they proposed increasing our rent by third; but so far no joy.

If we go then there will be no Market, no Greengrocers, no Charity Shop, no Manu Vouchers, no Christmas Carols and the community will be short £24,000 that we provide to tackle food poverty.

Most of our customers are also our friends and we have seen you through so many life events, joy, grief, loneliness, new babies, bereavements and celebrations everything that makes up our lives together.

Please can you help?