Struggling store owner is 'blown away' by support

THE owner of Middlesbrough's Disgraceland says she’s been ‘blown away’ by the immense support to secure the future of the unique venue.

- POPPY KENNEDY

Jane Jorgensen first opened Disgraceland as a vintage clothes store in Linthorpe Road in 1996.

Over the years the business has moved and adapted and has become a space billed as ‘Middlesbrough's first micro-club’ in Baker Street. Like many businesses struggling in the cost of living crisis, hikes in utility bills and stock prices are among the reasons the beloved venue found itself in a “financial hole big enough to potentially bury us”, says Jane.

On the suggestion of a friend, Industrial Coast’s Steve Kirby, Jane set up a GoFundMe page in the hope of raising some of the money needed to keep the Boro gem alive.

In a week, almost £1,800 has been donated and the community has come together to organise a fundraising event on November 7.

“I'm absolutely blown away. I've been juggling so many balls and it has been so hard,” said Jane, 62. “The cost of everything is going up and everyone is in the same position.