A St John’s Wood shop ravaged by last week’s flooding has set up a fundraiser to save the business.
Lash Magnifique, an eyelash extensions store in Boundary Road, was filled with floodwater during a heavy rainstorm last Monday (July 12).
The basement of the shop saw water at nearly a metre high, with thousands of pounds' worth of stock damaged.
One of the store’s employees has set up an appeal on crowdfunding website GoFundMe.
They write: “Hello, my name is Manuela and I’ve worked at Lash Magnifique for the last five years.
“Working here has been a complete joy for me and the team, we have built such tight bonds with each other and the customers.
“Seeing what has happened to the salon is just so heartbreaking. I’m creating this GoFundMe to try and help Stacey [Nathaniel] restore everything that the salon has lost.”
Stacey set up the business after moving to London for university and noticing a gap in the eyelash extensions market.
She said closures due to the Covid-19 lockdowns and now this flood have demoralised her.
“Close-contact treatments like ours couldn't actually open," she said.
"We opened for a week or two last year and then we had to close again because we went into lockdown. We technically haven't been open for almost a year.
“We’ve fought through closures, we’ve fought through competition, and then for a flood to just come and wipe us out is painful.
“My goal is just to keep my staff employed because they are the reason why the company is the way it is. They work tirelessly, they work hard.
“I would hate for the business to end like this in circumstances that are not our own because we’ve fought through everything."
So far, £740 has been raised for the business with one donor contributing £500.
In Maida Vale, councillors have set up their own crowdfunder, alongside the charity One Westminster, for properties affected by flooding.
Cllr Nafsika Butler-Thalassis (Lab) said: “Not everyone has insurance, not everyone can afford an excess, not everyone has the capacity to deal with this level of devastation. Please give generously.”
Click here to support Lash Magnifique.
Visit localgiving.org/appeal/WestminsterResidentsFloodFundraisingAppeal1/ for the Maida Vale appeal.
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