My name is Dave and I'm a small, independent specialty coffee roaster based in Meltham, near Holmfirth in West Yorkshire. I've worked in coffee for over 18 years, and two years ago I took the plunge and launched my own coffee business, roasting out of my living room on a. 1kg roaster, with a big fan to blow the smoke out of the back door.

Within my first six months I won Great Taste Awards for 4 of my coffees, and that was followed with more last year. Growth was strong and quick so I expanded into an industrial unit and, with the help of a friend, bought a second hand electric roaster to help me manage the bigger orders whilst still holding down my day job.

Danelaw Coffee has consumed all of my cash and time over the past 3 years, and is just about starting to break even. I just need to make it through to the end of the summer, and it should be OK, provided there aren't any major problems.

On the night of June 12th I was roasting this weeks orders when one of my elements failed - this isn't that unusual, but an annoying delay I could have managed without.

When the machine cooled enough to dismantle, I found that there was quite a lot of damage to the electrical system, and this was going to need a professional engineer to fix. Until I do this, I can not roast coffee at my roastery.

The quote for this work is about £4,500 which I simply do not have. To have put so much in and be so close to success is heartbreaking and I really need to keep this business running. Some very generous coffee friends have offered to let me hire their roasters for now, to try to keep the wheels moving, but I need to get back up and running as soon as I can.

So I'm asking you for help.

If you've enjoyed my coffees, laughed at one of my stupid videos, benefitted from my advice, learned from something I've said or just want to help me try to get this thing working again, please think about making a donation. It's hard to be this honest and vulnerable but I need your help.