Originally from Belgrade in Serbia, Mariana Mitrovic and her husband, Bob, are planning to open a coworking space for freelancers and the digital community, in Faro, Algarve.

When they first moved to the Algarve, they opened a successful souvenir shop in Faro but unfortunately, the pandemic forced them to close their shop, “fortunately, Mariana has been working as a freelance translator for years, so we were able to somehow get through this period with her skills and the selfless help of our friends,” said Bob.

The couple added: “We soon realised that the city is full of digital nomads and freelancers, whose job is not related to a permanent residence. They can complete all their work tasks online and therefore live anywhere on the planet where there is electricity and internet. Many of them chose Faro during the pandemic due to its mild and warm climate throughout the year, but also because of its excellent cuisine and the endless beaches that stretch everywhere around the city. They loved their stay in Faro with only one complaint: there was no space in the city where they could work without having to buy or rent the space for themselves for longer periods of time.

“In order give back to our community and to enrich the city that accepted us as its own, we decided to open a coworking space in Faro, Algarve, where people work, take classes, participate in events and collaborate on projects.” The idea for the project also arose from their own needs; after the pandemic and isolation, they decided for Mariana to go back to her job as a translator. Upon returning, she realised “how much long working hours from home can become unproductive. On the other hand, cafes are loud and offer no privacy, while renting a private office is expensive, time consuming, and can be lonely.

“The solution appeared to us as clear as a day: Faro has an extremely creative population that deserves a beautiful place to work, teach, learn and meet other people. We believe that it is time to change the way we work and that we can achieve that goal together, as a community.”

They would really appreciate your support as they have explored various avenues for financing, however, they have found that “these options don't reflect our mission to be independent, nor do they value the same things we do: we're building the Hercules Coworking Space because it's part of our life's work and we're not building it to sell it. We believe the power of Hercules resides in the community, so we decided to turn to the crowdfunding platform that supports the aspirations of individual entrepreneurs to get the job done. Anyone who wants to help and contribute to this project will get some reward in return (there is something for every budget).”

For more information or if you are interested in donating to make Hercules Coworking Space a reality, please see their crowdfunding page at https://ppl.pt/en/coworking-hercules. You can also see their Facebook page @Coworking.Hercules.