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Monday 29 June 2015 11:50 am

Greek debt crisis: This Londoner is crowdfunding a Greek bailout fund on Indiegogo

By: Lynsey Barber

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Greece has a rather large bill to pay.

Read more: This Indiegogo Grexit bailout crowdfund has reached a six-figure sum

As the country approaches the deadline for repaying loans to its creditors – €1.6bn of which is due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) tomorrow – it's the kind of cash that a country doesn't just find hiding down the back of the sofa.

Where that money will come from is, of course, the subject of protracted negotiations with Europe's lenders, but perhaps there's a source of funding that hasn't yet crossed the Greek Prime Minister's mind?

There's one Londoner at least who thinks that crowdfunding is the solution to Greece's woes, even if it is mainly down to complete Gretigue (that's the new lingo for Greece debt crisis fatigue), or as they put it "all this dithering over Greece is getting boring".

Thom Feeney, a marketing manager from London decided to set up a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, seeking to raise a bailout fund for Greece of €1.6bn.

Read more: How Twitter became Greece’s secret weapon

"The European Union is home to 503m people, if we all just chip in a few euro then we can get Greece sorted and hopefully get them back on track soon. Easy," says the campaign page.

The 29-year-old from Bethnal Green told City A.M:  "It seems like politicians, Prime Ministers and chancellors are forgetting who is really affected by this crisis and that's the Greek people. If governments won't help the Greeks, perhaps people around Europe can.

"It would only take everyone in the EU to buy a feta and olive salad for lunch to raise enough for this bailout. And that certainly doesn't seem like a hardship."

Rewards up for grabs include a postcard of the Greek PM Alexis Tsipras for €3 donations, a classic Greek salad of feta and olives for €6, and a bottle of Ouzo or Greek wine with a donation of €10 or €25 respectively. 

There is another top tier for any heavy hitter willing to stump up the cash in full (an option for some of the world's richest perhaps?).

"If you provide all the cash needed, then we'll find you a Greek Island. There's an estimated 1,200 to 6,000 in Greece and one will belong to you. This one has yet to be ratified with the Greek Prime Minister himself but it's pretty much in the bag."

Clearly fans of doing things the alternative (some may say awkward) way, perhaps Syriza will embrace alternative financing to fund the future of the country as it hangs in the balance.

It's not the first time the crowdfunding concept has been called upon as the solution to Greece's woes.

Read more: Here's the government's advice for holidaymakers in Greece

In 2012 an Australian woman set up a similar campaign while earlier this year a group of French intellectuals raised €117,000 from 1442 people, but that was only around 40 per cent of its 300,000 target, meaning it was unsuccessful.

So far the new effort has picked up €124 from four funders in less than 24 hours. There's a way to go, but still plenty of time to get it to that billion-euro target.

"European ministers flexing their muscles and posturing over whether they can help the Greek people of not. Why don't we the people just sort it instead?" the funding pledge says.

Maybe it's the Gretigue talking, but that's a refreshing can-do attitude.

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