George Padmore Institute calls for help with 'urgent building repairs'

£1,650 has been raised so far to fix cracks, leaks and subsidence at the site of New Beacon Books, reports Miriam Balanescu

An institute working to preserve the histories of Britain’s Black communities has issued an urgent appeal for help with building repairs.

The George Padmore Institute (GPI) on Stroud Green Road, Finsbury Park, says its building “requires emergency repairs” to tackle issues including subsidence and leaks.

A fundraiser has been launched which has raised over £1,650 to save the building also housing New Beacon Books – which made history as the first Caribbean publishing house in the UK.

A trustee of GPI said: “Our staff, researchers, visitors, volunteers and New Beacon Books need a safe space to carry out their work.”

The institute hopes to raise £35,000 to cover repairs. Last year, GPI was made a national portfolio organisation by Arts Council England, receiving £219,000 over the course of three years, beginning April 2023 – but the institute says this is not enough to cover these “urgent building repairs”.

The trustee added: “The grant covers a portion of our operating costs, and we continue to rely on donations to make up the remainder of the budget.

“With increased energy costs alongside inflation, it is more and more difficult for us to reach our funding goals. And we have no funds to carry out capital building work.”

GPI was founded in 1991 by poet-activist John La Rose to house collections pertaining to the political, social and cultural contributions of Black and Brown people to British history. It followed on from New Beacon Books, which was founded in 1966 by La Rose and Sarah White in their Hornsey flat, before moving to Finsbury Park in 1967 and expanding into a bookstore.

The trustee said: “It’s been a place for people from schoolchildren to film producers to come and learn about Black British History, so it’s imperative that we safeguard this essential legacy by repairing our old Victorian terraced building as soon as possible.”

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