Background

A massive fire broke out at The Bureau Centre for the Arts in Blackburn on the morning of 3rd April 2019, completely gutting the beautiful listed building that's their home. The team at the Bureau have worked incredibly hard to bring this art space to Blackburn and it's a massive blow to the people of Blackburn. We don't yet know if the building can be saved but the Bureau is more than a building, it's a community of wonderful people and that can still live on. This Crowdfunder is set up for the Bureau and with the support of the team there - and everyone's kind donations will be transferrred directly to the Bureau, to help them move forward in whatever way they can.

UPDATE

We've reached our goal of £5000 to support the Bureau moving forward after this week's fire - a massive and heartfelt thank you to every single one of you, you are amazing.

I know lots of you have been sharing the fundraiser, and there's such a lot of different ways the funds raised can be so useful - so we're going to keep it openand see how much more we can raise for the Bureau going forward. We know that there's a really long way to go still for the team, and that every donation is a boost to them both in terms of the money raised but also the support and solidarity it conveys too.

It's been wonderful to find new emails in my inbox every time I've logged in letting me know about new donations and supportive messages. The team have been blown away by all the support too - both here financially and offline from the community of Blackburn and beyond.

If you follow the Bureau on Facebook, you might have seen that they've been able to save some things from an area of the building that was less damaged - but they have lost so much and even some of the salvaged items are damaged and they are still working throguh to see what can be kept and reused. I can only imagine the shock of such a devastating event and how I'd feel... and they said that every day they are realising what has been lost.

I know lots of you will be keen to find out where the team are at, and the next steps - here's what Cath, Leonie and Kerris wanted to share.

Keep up to date with the Bureau and any latest news on their Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TheBureauBlackburn/

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For more info...

Info about the fire can be found here : https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/17546651.large-fire-breaks-out-at-the-bureau-centre-for-the-arts-blackburn/

Some photos of the devastation inside - https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/17547848.first-look-inside-the-bureau-centre-for-the-arts-after-the-fire/?fbclid=IwAR1ZFfq3oI0c50sd3gdLXWBN1__G1fVaZfgDjKgfL3UPCiqSz2pyF9aZabI

Info about the Bureau and the amazing work they do/variety of community groups that use it it does can be found here: http://bureaublackburn.co.uk/