KITGUM HIT£20,000 - Donations still appreciated

Aim

It's a hard year for restaurants. The banks said no. You've said yes twice, help us open the Kitgum we've always dreamed of. Doors open June

We’ve found it. 3 Hampton Place, Brighton.

A building that’s been a family restaurant for 30 years. Good energy in those walls. Bigger, better located, room for a real bar — we’ve never had a real bar. A DJ booth. Space for live music. A proper kitchen with windows.

Everything we’ve been chasing for eleven years.

We went to see it and standing there, we knew. So we took it. Of course we took it. In true Kitgum style we said yes first and worked out the numbers after.

Hampton place as it was: 

The numbers got bigger.

Eleven years ago we started Kitgum with family recipes and a pop-up in a Brighton pub. No plan. No industry connections. Just food we believed in and a stubborn refusal to do things any way but our own.

From that pop-up came festivals, residencies, and eventually our own restaurant. Then COVID hit five weeks after we opened. One kid, another on the way, no safety net. We kept going.

Kitgum 1 was always a starting point. The kitchen was too small, the location too quiet. We knew we needed somewhere that could be the Kitgum we'd always dreamed of.

Last year we thought we'd found it on Preston Street. Solicitors, surveys, the lot. You raised £20,000 for us in four days. Then it collapsed at the final hurdle. £5,000 on legal fees and surveys gone, six months gone, our head chef gone.    

Soul destroying.

We picked ourselves up and kept looking.

Out of nowhere a customer got in touch. Her family were ready to retire from the restaurant they'd run on Hampton Place for years. We went to see it. We knew.

THE PEOPLE BUILDING KITGUM

Susie's project managing the build and pulling the interior design together. Fayaz is dialling in the sound, lining up a wicked team in the kitchen and front of house, and wrangling the money, licensing and all the other boring stuff that keeps a restaurant legal. 

Matt, our wildly talented friend, is lending us his ear on the sound system (lol). Ben and Donald, the builders who did our house, have built the bar, soundproofed the ceiling and sorted the drainage. Pat the carpenter — who set our last place up as a favour and is now properly on the books — is doing the joinery. Paul the painter starts next week. And Hattie, our architect, friend and absolute saviour, giving her time for nothing and turning Susie's scrappy drawings into something the builders can actually read.

WHERE WE'RE AT

We closed in December expecting to open in March. Legal delays dragged us into April without getting the keys, and now we're building flat out — we won't open until June. It's all taken three months longer than we planned. No income since January, bills still going out. Our second quarter's rent is due end of June. We've been to several banks — same answer every time. No trading history at this site, no business to lend against.

Me and Susie are living this 24 hours a day. It’s stressful as hell — for us and for our kids. We just need to get over the line.

The banks said no. That leaves you.

WHAT YOU'RE FUNDING

We're asking for £13,000 to help us open. Here's what that means.

Nothing in here is brand new. eBay, Facebook Marketplace, car boot sales. We hunt, we haggle, we make it work. It's still eye-wateringly expensive. Here's where your money goes.

Beer taps and a glasswasher so we can actually serve a pint.

A new freezer — the one here is rusting through and needs replacing.

Tiles for the bar.

Glassware, crockery, cutlery — the things you eat and drink from.

Tables, chairs, bar stools.

Signage out front so people can find us.

Outside seating.

Plants — it wouldn't be Kitgum without them.

IF WE DON'T HIT THE TARGET

We'll still open. But the wrong way round.

We'll open without some of the essentials — beer taps, glasswasher, finishing touches — and buy them back as cash flow allows. That's a slower, more stressful start, and more compromises along the way.

Kitgum was never going to open fully finished — we want to grow into the space organically, that's always been our way. But there's a difference between unfinished by design and unfinished by necessity. Right now we're heading for the second one.

Hitting target means we open with the essentials in. The bar pours pints from day one. The glasses get washed properly. The plants are in. We get to start where we should be starting.

THE DEAL

Restaurants are closing. Banks won’t lend. We get it.

So we’re not asking for a handout. We’re offering a deal.

Pledge £50, get £75 to spend when we open

Pledge £100, get £150 to spend when we open

Pledge £150, get £225 to spend when we open

Pledge £200, get £300 to spend when we open

Honestly, the banks saying no stung. But we think this is actually the better way. No big companies. Just people who love good food, good music and good vibes backing people who create it. Better than any ISA. Better than anything a bank offered us.

Help us set the table. We’ll save you a seat.

This isn’t a donation. It’s prepaying your meal — and we’re giving you 50% more back for the trouble. Use it in one visit or spread it across many. No expiry. Stackable with the menu. Giftable.

If you’re planning on eating at the new Kitgum in the next two years, this is a no-brainer.

Just want to support without a reward? Donate any amount. No voucher needed — just love and a massive thank you.

TO EVERYONE WHO PLEDGED LAST TIME

Your vouchers are safe. Every single one. Waiting for you at 3 Hampton Place.

Doors open mid June.

Help us open the Kitgum we've always dreamed of. Help us set the table.

Fayaz & Susie 💚

3 Hampton Place, Brighton, BN1 3DA

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 2nd July 2026 at 1:58am