FEATURE: Fill to Capacity: The Importance of Donating to Save Your Local Venues

FEATURE:

 

Fill to Capacity

PHOTO CREDIT: @dannyhowe/Unsplash

The Importance of Donating to Save Your Local Venues

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THIS is going to be me…

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IMAGE CREDIT: Music Venue Trust

revisiting a subject I have been exploring quite a bit over the past few weeks. I have mentioned how the Music Venue Trust has set up a way one can donate to their local venues, to ensure they are safe through this hard time. Consider the fact, at this time of year, so many artists would be packing in gigs in preparation for the festivals this summer. They would be getting all the practice and exposure they could; making sure songs are up to scratch and they are festival-ready. It is also a good opportunity for gig-goers who did not get festival tickets to see their favourite artists before they head off in the summer. In fact, all-year-round, there is buzz and activity at venues. They are not only spaces for musicians to play music: venues provide activities for people of all ages and serve their communities in a way many of us do not realise. Many do craft and poetry lessons/readings; others hold special D.J. nights, whereas some might offer a whole range of other entertainment options besides new music. As we are still in lockdown and unsure when we will be able to see gigs again, so many venues are relying on funds from supporters. I will mention some venues very dear to my heart who are all hoping to stay open and thrive when the lockdown is over.

PHOTO CREDIT: Amy McCorkindale

If we lose venues, not only do we see a valuable part of our community disappear; there is a knock-on effect on the local community – bars, restaurants and shops benefit from live venues and a lot of new people in the local area. From managers, admin and technical crew, there are so many different levels to running a venue and, if we lose them, the music world will become so much poorer. At the moment, I think a few venues have hit their target fundraising figure – which means they can remain open at this hard time and, let’s hope, put on gigs later in the year. There are so many other venues that, in the next week or so, will need the backing and togetherness of the people. I was born in Guildford, and Boileroom is a hub of the community that has seen so many terrific artists pass through their doors through the years. Although Boileroom is quite a small space, I think it is the intimacy and atmosphere that one gets from the place that pulls people in. In fact, music fans from all around the world come to Boileroom because of its variety, reputation and passion. Every member of the team there puts their all into making sure Boileroom offers something for everyone. At the time of writing this feature (29th April, 09:27), Boileroom had raised just over £26,000 of their intended £30,000 target.

I know they will make it over the line but, with twelve days to go, they need a boost. There are very few music venues in Guildford so, if we ever lost Boileroom, it would be devastating for so many people. Here are some words from Boileroom themselves:

“Although we are trying to stay positive, without the support of the government we have estimated that in order to be able to support our full-time staff and pay our bills, we need around £2.5k a week. This is why we are crowdfunding for the worst case scenario - 12 weeks, which comes to £30k.

Like so many other small, independent businesses, we now face an unpredictable and potentially very grave future and we need your help.

We will keep you all informed of any changes to our plan, but for now we hope that you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy. Yours and of course our staff’s safety is absolutely paramount to us.

Put simply: without support and action during these times, The Boileroom will NOT survive and its staff will be placed in a vulnerable financial position.

At this point, while we understand that so many others are facing similarly uncertain times, we are encouraging everyone in the community and beyond who is able to and and wants to play a part in safeguarding the future of The Boileroom, to pleae donate generously to this fund.

In return we will be offering Boileroom merch and other incentives for larger donations, should you have the means to help.

We are gutted, obviously, this is challenging everything that is important to us and we really hope for a time when we can put this behind us. Thank you for your words of support and helping independent family businesses like ours. Frankly no business (regardless of shape or size) is exempt from the impact of what is going on right now”.

A sort of home away from home for me – though I live now in North London – is Brighton. I have a lot of love for the music scene in London, and I will do all I can to support venues here. Looking at Resident’s Twitter page, and they are keeping busy at this difficult time. They are being highlighted in the media, and they are experiencing a lot of online demand. I know they will reopen soon enough, and Resident is an essential part of the Brighton music fabric. I do hope that they are and all the other great record shops through Brighton remain open and are able to serve their community when things improve. I saw a tweet on Tuesday that highlighted why so many people love Brighton: the incredible live music scene. If you have ever visited Brighton and see live music there, it is impetrative to donate to these venues and ensure their survival. Like Boileroom, so many venues across Brighton are relying on donations. Komedia is a wonderful space I always walk past when visiting Brighton. I will be donating to them, as Komedia offers music, theatre, comedy, kids shows and much more besides. It is a gorgeous venue, and, as with any venue, if it is closed then it impacts on all of the business around it, in addition to the wider economy of Brighton.

The Hope & Ruin is another brilliant venue that looks absolutely fantastic! Check them out - and you can see why it is such a cornerstone of the Brighton landscape. The venue has picked up some good donations already, but it can do with your help. They are not at threat from permanent closure, but they will not be able to continue producing events and shows without valuable donations:

“Team Black at The Hope & Ruin is part of a national initiative launched by Music Venue Trust to prevent the closure of hundreds of independent music venues.

While we are not at threat from permanent closure, in order to continue to host live events all year round, to discover, to book and to deliver great shows, we need to return with our talented and unique team.  Sadly, as we all know, we are unable to open to the public right now and all sources of income have dried up completely.

There are a lot of people involved in the delivery of live shows and a great many of them are facing considerable challenges through the current crisis. We have an incredible team of bookers, promoters and technicians who are not covered by any of the Government interventions.  Your donations will be used to help support them through the lockdown period and beyond so when we’re able to reopen, we’ll have our full team in place with us and we’ll be ready to roll. They make The Hope & Ruin the great place it is to see amazing live bands or just hang out for a couple of pints with pals”.

Other important Brighton venues that need support are The Pipeline, Latest Music Bar, The Brunswick (Hove) and The Old Market. Green Door Store is one of my favourite venues, and it is one of the best venues in the country. You can support them (and Rossi Bar) here, and also follow them on Twitter. I am not sure whether they would be threatened with permanent closure if they do not hit their £12,000 target, but it is clear there would be damaging losses and sustainability would be incredible difficult.

“Our dear Brightonians and friends from further afield,

We reach out to you, like many others, at this time which is proving to be unfathomable for music venues. We like all of our Venue friends have had to cease operating and close our doors for an unclear amount of time. In the interim we still have so many outgoings and no way of making money (we are working on this)!

We are unsure how long this closure will be for but what we can tell you is that we are going to fight our darn hardest to stay afloat in these troubling times.

We aren’t a company that like to ask for anything. In fact we have spent the last (nearly) 10 years being proudly Independent. We have survived up to this point without funding or support from anyone other than you, our loyal gig goers and musical creatives.

We are sorry, to ask this of you when we know you too are looking at sustaining yourselves through these unpredictable weeks, and we don’t ask lightly. But we do so we can open again, as soon as physically possible. With complete transparency, all of our shows for the next five months, for both our venues, have cancelled or been postponed. We are unsure whether this will continue through the coming months.

We are fundraising for £25,000 to help protect our venues and our staff through this period of closure. If we hit our target, and we can prevent the closure of our venue, everything above the amount we need will be donated to the Music Venue Trust GMV Crisis Fund to protect other venues just like ours, right across the country”.

You can check out what is on the Green Door Store calendar, and look forward to some live music ahead. The next few weeks are going to be very tough, and it will be heartbreaking if the venue (with Rossi Bar) had to scale back or make any losses. You can support to a general pot that is raising money for venues in general, but I like so many people have been keen to also donate to important/local venues. I hope all those who I have mentioned will be fine and manage to carry on strong later this year. Venues would not be asking for donations if it were not necessary and, as I said, they provide much more than music alone. If we lose venues from our streets, it creates this snowball effect that damages musicians, the larger industry and music fans. We are all keen to get back out and see live music again, so let’s hope that all the venues looking for funding are going to be okay. I know many people are struggling financially, but many of this country’s wonderful venues are threatened, and they need your help. Check out the Music Venue Trust link, find your local venue; donate to their cause to ensure that they can… 

REOPEN their doors very soon.

Sam Liddicott