The owner of a tattoo studio in Chichester is thankful for the “huge act of kindness” from a friend and people donating to help repair its shop window after it was vandalised.
Jack Upton, 25, from Chichester, described how his “heart sank” after a client alerted him that his shop window was smashed, just over three weeks ago.
It was a double blow for The Inksmiths who at the time learned that their studio would not be allowed to open much like pubs and restaurants could on July 4.
While they located CCTV of the perpetrator and contacted police immediately, this did not solve the problem.
“We were facing either not opening at all, or opening with damaged windows,” he told Oh My Goodness.
“Our hearts sank. Because we’ve been closed for 3 months without any means to make money.”
That’s when Jack’s friend, Lewis Batten, much to Jack’s surprise, had set up a GoFundMe page to help fundraise for the broken window.
In return for donations, the 25-year-old, due to start a Design in Digital Media course at Brighton University from September, offered illustrations to those that helped to support the fundraiser.
“I just thought I don’t have much to offer for the GoFundMe page other than an illustration for a donation. It might help donations if you receive something for donating £10 or more, luckily I was right,” Lewis told Oh My Goodness.
Within a day, the “amazing” support had seen £1000 donated.
Jack, who only took over the studio with his business partner Rhys Saunders last year, described what Lewis had done as a “huge act of kindness”.
“Lewis just did it out of nowhere. I didn’t want to ask for help or expect anyone to help but he couldn’t stand to see this injustice on a small business in such difficult times,” he said.
“I didn’t expect it to go anywhere. Then within a day him and a ton of our clients had raised over a grand in support! Whether it be a fiver or larger sums it was incredible to see such active support.”
Lewis, who has been friends with Jack since they were 11, said the support had really “lifted Jack’s spirits”.
Tattoo studios have since been given the green light to open, and thanks to the donations of others, there are plans for the studio reopen next week.
“We have had to buy screens, aprons, visors, face masks, bulk buy sanitiser and refloor the studio. We would not have been able to afford these damages in our current situation. The fundraiser was a life saver,” Jack added.
If you would like to help support the fundraiser to help repair the Inksmiths window, you can visit their GoFundMe page here.
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