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A West Yorkshire jeweller has joined a crowdfunding initiative to help raise money for local businesses in Calder Valley, which were affected by the Boxing Day floods.
Element Jewellery is supporting the ‘Calderdale Rising’ campaign, launched on Friday 15 January, and has been trending as the most popular campaign on crowdfunding platform Crowdfunder.co.uk.
Led by Business for Calderdale, and supported by other business groups in the area, it was created to help around 100 businesses across Calderdale that were heavily affected.
According to the campaign video, around 1,000 businesses were badly affected by flooding when the banks of the River Calder and the Calderdale Canal overflowed into streets and buildings.
The businesses taking part in the scheme range from high street shops to professional services and companies in the industrial sector, many of which are independently owned and still unable to re-open.
Caroline Kindy, managing director at Element Jewellery, told Jewellery Focus that her store was “very badly hit” by the flooding with almost 6ft of water pouring into the premises. She said that she knows other jewellers in the area were affected, too.
Commenting on the campaign, Kindy said: “From Element’s point of view, we feel that a collective effort to raise money and help to re-instate the commercial fabric of the Calder Valley is vital.
“Businesses who have really suffered, as a result from no flood insurance, high excesses like ourselves or immeasurable loss of trade, need all the extra help they can get. Government funds won’t match the recovery needs of local business unfortunately.”
The fund currently has 458 backers and stands at £134,360 (at time of publication). The campaign ends on 12 February and if it doesn’t hit £150,000 by the deadline no money will be collected or handed out.
Kindy added that if Element’s fund allocation exceeds its needs, the company will look to help other businesses “however it can”.
The money raised by the scheme will be shared between the businesses taking part.
