A bookshop and cafe in East London, seen as a “haven” for the LGBTQ+ community, has launched a fund-raiser to help the venue to keep going. The Common Press bookshop, in Shoreditch, has seen an “absolutely overwhelming” amount of support since launching its crowd-funder on Tuesday (13 August), and has already raised more than £8,000 ($10,300) of its £100,000 ($129,000) target. The bookshop and cafe, which hosts LGBTQ+ events, launched the fund-raiser as the venue transitions to a Community Interest Company (CIC), a special type of business which exists to benefit a community, rather than private shareholders. “It’s really important to have spaces not just focused on nightlife,” director Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir told PinkNews.