thirty

2022 wasn’t an easy year—trying to balance the first full year out of lockdown, having to accept COVID as a part of our lives, paying bills as they skyrocket, the list goes on. It has been a lot, for so many, which is why I am so proud of everything we accomplished last year. I am aware that we produced less work than we did in 2021, but I hope that the collaborations that we were doing, and the conversations we were brought into, will eventually lead to something more meaningful. 

However, for the most part I felt angry, frustrated, and sad. I felt let down at events, let down by breweries, let down by people who I thought more of. And equally, I felt like I was letting everyone down. That Burum as an entity wasn’t doing enough for those who really needed it. 

When I first started mapping out what I wanted Burum to be, I described it as feeling like “a big ball of string made from anger, determination and hope”  and that even though it was difficult “I knew that it had a purpose. So I kept going.” So, despite everything I feel, I vow to keep working at untangling this string, but in order to keep going a change of direction is in order. 

This year will see a different path for Burum Collective. Due to a continued loss of funding we have taken the difficult decision to no longer commission written work for our online magazine moving forward. This isn’t a permanent decision, but right now we feel our time, resources and limited funding are best placed, not in trying to be like everyone else, but in staying true to our aims and trying to fight for what we believe in.

This year we are also saying goodbye to our in-house illustrator Elliot James Comanescu, who is leaving us to focus on his degree. As sensible and understandable as this news is, especially when our financial situation is less certain, this is really sad news. Elliot was the first person I started working with on Burum back in 2020, and we wouldn't have reached the amount of people we have without him. I want to wish Elliot the best of luck, reiterate that he'll always be a part of the BC team, and hope that he'll be able to work with us in the future. 

So, until we’re in a position where we no longer have the money to actually run the website, we’re going to keep pushing forward. If COVID-19 taught us anything, it’s how to pivot. We’re really good at pivoting. We’ve had some talks and we’ve made some plans and we’re tentatively excited to announce that this is what Burum Collective is going to be about in 2023. 

What Will You Be Doing?

• Under the editorial guidance of Rachel Hendry, Burum Collective are going to be making a zine. A zine for hospitality workers, about hospitality workers, by hospitality workers with a sharp focus on unionisation and workers rights. Once this zine has been commissioned, collated and created we’re going to do everything in our power to ensure it is distributed to as many hospitality venues as we can, so it can end up in the hands of as many hospitality workers as possible.
  
  We’re not talking about a glossy publication here, we’re talking about a grassroots collection of essays, illustrations and  information that will hopefully help to inform and empower the workers of our industry.
  
  This is something that we have wanted to do since the Common Ground Conference we held back in 2021, and so we’ve decided that moving into more project based work is the best way for us to be effective in 2023. We’re going to need a lot of help with this one, so keep your eyes peeled for more information coming in the next few weeks.

• Instead of trying to squeeze Burum work in before shifts, after shifts, on lunch breaks, on the train etc. I will be volunteering one day a week to solely focus on Burum Collective. In that time I will be supporting the zine, making improvements to the Education Hub, continuing to work with the Unite Hospitality Combine, and will be finally building a hub of resources for employees and employers of the drinks industry.

• From February Alex Morris will continue to be paid as our Jobs Board Administrator via our Patreon for our Beer Kulture x Burum Collective Jobs Board. We will be putting more time into this and a marketing strategy will be put together in order to get the jobs board to folk who are outside of the industry.

• We will be making a monthly contribution to TransAid Cymru, a charity whose work means a lot to us.

We will be updating our Patreon and sending out emails to our subscribers so that you all understand how our funding will now be distributed. Subscribers can then decide if they would still like to support us on the next stage of our journey. We would of course be incredibly grateful if you could stay with us, but we appreciate how difficult it is out there financially at the moment—we totally get it. 

We would also like to ask our larger publication siblings to do what we currently aren’t able to do, and to support writers of different backgrounds, tell stories that are not being told, and interview the staff, not just the business owners. Keep using your platforms for positive change. 

I would like to personally thank Rachel, Elliot and Alex for another wonderful year, you’ve all been amazing, I am eternally blessed to have been able to work with you and I can’t tell you how much I loved getting to spend time with you all in person for the FIRST TIME last August for our second birthday. 

Thank you to all of the contributors last year Abhilash, Ruvani, Rashmi, Bailey, Vinka, Ginger, David and Lauren, for bringing yourselves fully to the table, and writing such fantastic pieces and Behind the Bar interviews. We’re so lucky to have been able to commission, edit, and publish your pieces. We really hope we’ll be able to work with you again in the future.

And finally, thank you to everyone who has supported us, Burum wouldn’t be the same without you.