Campaign To Support Grassroots Jazz Venues

I [Nigel Price] recently began a fundraising campaign to support grassroots jazz venues who failed to qualify for any help in the Culture Recovery Fund as we came out of the pandemic. The situation is critical, with more than a handful of clubs closing their doors for good, some of them having been open for decades. I can’t bear it. I hope you concur.

I had first tried to address the funding issue direct with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) with a letter that was signed by 69 previous Parliamentary Jazz Award winners, including Dame Cleo Laine. Unfortunately that pretty much fell on deaf ears. You can read that whole exchange here.

So I decided that if they can’t (or won’t) help us, then we could try bypassing the whole unwieldly system. That’s where we are now.

The goal is to raise £1million. Yes. A million quid. It’s not a figure I plucked out of nowhere. I’m working on five grand apiece for about 200 clubs.

This led to the formation of the organisation ‘Grassroots Jazz’ which is now a registered charity – 1197449 Website: www.grassrootsjazz.com
This website has links to a simple ‘gofundme’ campaign
There is also a series of raffles which are accessible either from that website or the first one (the draw is on July 4th 2022) via this direct link.

There have also been 10,000 business cards made, on which is printed the website URL, a short mission statement and a QR code which links to the website. These are being sent out all over the UK.

I am keen to spread the word about this initiative as far and wide as is humanly possible. That’s how we’re going to get this done – with numbers. I’d be very appreciative if you could share the link to the website on your website and/or social media, as well as any events or raffles that may pop up from time to time.

The contact email for the charity is:
My personal email is:

Clubs who have helped to date
1. Swansea Jazz Club
2. SoundCellar, Poole
3. Jazz at Merchants Hall, Glasgow
4. St Ives Jazz Club
5. Bennigan’s Bar, Derry
6. Scarborough Jazz Club
7. Spike’s Place, Brentwood

If I hit the target, or even get halfway, then EVERY UK club will receive a grant. This includes YOU! (If you want it of course…)

So, what do I want from you?
Well – it would be brilliant if you could copy, paste share this with your mailing list:

Grassroots Jazz Fundraising Campaign
There is currently a campaign running to help struggling grassroots jazz clubs that didn’t qualify for funding in the post pandemic Culture Recovery Fund. It’s a desperate time for UK jazz and we have already seen closures, sometimes of clubs that have been in existence for decades.

If you would like support this cause then please visit
https://www.grassrootsjazz.com where there are a number of fundraising initiatives, including a raffle, a ‘gofundme’ page, a direct PayPal donations link – with an option to opt for ‘gift aid’. The site will also keep you informed of live fundraising events and a list of clubs that have received grants.

Your help would be appreciated enormously.

Thanks

Also, if you’re up for handing out any of the business cards at your concerts it would be incredible. If you’re up for this then please send me your address and I will pop some in the post.

If you want to join the mailing list then it’ll be so much easier and quicker to contact you all when I have important news. I could have added you but I didn’t want to breach data protection laws. You can sign up here.

Ok. I think that’s it! I really hope you’re happy to come aboard and be part of this campaign. Together, I think we can make a real difference and ensure that the music we love is safe on our watch.

Please let me know what you think.

Kindest regards

Nigel