A queer cafe planned by Edinburgh pals Oskar Hansen and Zak Riding has smashed its fundraising target, raising over £6000.
And the friends have spoken to the Daily Record about their plans to create a "safe and sober" place for Edinburgh's LGBT+ community.
Oskar and Zak have set out to transform the Greenwood shop and cafe in the Fountainbridge area after become co-owners.
They want to transform the space into a queer-friendly and alcohol free venue after noticing the lack of such a venue in the city, where most are alcohol related.
Speaking the the newspaper, Zak said: “We just knew that Edinburgh didn’t have a safe, sober space like this and was in real need of one - so we thought ‘let’s give it a go’ when the current owner of the Greenwood, Polly, put a post up online saying she was selling the business.”
Oskar, who works as drag artist Mystika Glamoor, said: “We had been talking for a while about how there is a lack of specifically queer-friendly, sober spaces in town for queer people to meet-up and partake in a variety of activities.
They added: “Then we saw on social media that the Greenwood was available for new management, and leaped on the opportunity.”
The pair had started a Go Fund Me crowd funder to get the project off the ground, setting an initial target of £1500.
But they were blown away when they quickly smashed that target, with donations now sitting at over £6000. The money raised will go towards new licences, cooking appliances, security systems, insurance, stock and furniture.
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Zak and Oskar added: “We also want to make the point of providing a space for queer people under 18 who miss out on the social space of nightclubs due to the presence of alcohol and everything that comes with it.”
They said they are “so overwhelmed and grateful” for the support and have now been able to push their target even further to provide more features including a video projector, fittings for exhibitions, signage and design work.
You can stay up to date with the project here.
