‘Over the moon’ at tattoo shop support
The owner of a Chichester tattoo studio is ‘ over the moon’ after members of the community donated more than £1,660 to replace a vandalised window.
Jack Upton, who runs The Inksmiths in Southgate along with business partner Rhys Saunders, said it felt ‘great’ to know that people cared about small independent businesses like his.
He discovered the studio windowhadbeenbrokenjust days after the disappointing announcement that, unlike hair salons, tattoo shops would not be permitted to open on July 4 as he had hoped.
On finding out about the damage, he said: “My heart sunk straight away. It’s just devastating. Being made to close for three months, the financial strain on us as an independent business is a struggle.
“To find out the window had been vandalised through an act of sheer idiocy was really upsetting actually.”
Mr Upton and Mr Saunders took over the studio last year, only to have the pandemic force them to stop trading in March.
As 25-year-olds running their first business, he said it had been ‘a nightmare’. Like all businesses, he has also recently had to fork out for new protective screens and PPE to help get them ready for reopening.
His friend, Lewis Batten, was so saddened by their plight that he was spurred to set up a fundraiser to help cover the cost of replacing the window.
The 25-year-old, who is planning to study design in digital media at Brighton University from September, decided to offer stylised caricatures in return for any £10 donations that were made. “It really took off from there,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting it to. We hit £1,000 in the first day. It really did well.”
Mr Upton was delighted when he found out about the fundraiser. He said: “I’m not one to ask for help. I thought we would just have to suck it up. It was an act of human kindness that I really needed at that point. Even if we don’t meet the target, I’m over the moon that people have even contributed.”
See the fundraiser at uk.gofundme.com/f/fix-theinksmiths-window