Punk music venue Boom Leeds in fight for survival

Boom Leeds provides the city's music scene with permanent rehearsal rooms for bands and recording facilities at its base on Millwright Street in LS2.

But the venue it is now at risk of permanent closure and likely not to survive the coronavirus pandemic without financial support after finding it was ineligible to receive funding from the recent government backed Cultural Recovery Fund.

The venue is one of 30 around the UK to win the support of the Music Venue Trust, which represents hundreds of UK grassroots music venues.

As a 'red light focus' Boom Leeds will benefit from a range of targeted activity under the Trust's #saveourvenues banner, based around a combined effort by audiences, local communities, local councils and the creative community to prevent its permanent closure.

MVT is now urging everyone who cares about these venues to write to their local MP, council, local charities, and anyone else they can think of to demand action to prevent them being closed for good.

Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, said, “What the #saveourvenues campaign has achieved during the last eight months is truly remarkable. Thanks to the efforts of music fans, local communities and the wider music sector we have raised over £3m in donations and have unlocked over £80m in government assistance to help stave off the imminent closure of over 400 grassroots music venues. We are now focusing exclusively on those 30 remaining venues which face immediate permanent closure.

"If people want these local venues to still be there when this is over there is a very clear call to action: choose a venue, get donating, get writing, get calling, get organised. Save them all. Reopen Every Venue Safely.”

Venue manager Ian Leck said: "The venue is now on the brink of permanent closure and will not survive the global COVID-19 pandemic without support. Please save a UK punk venue, help save Boom Leeds.”

A new crowdfunding initiative powered by Crowdfunder has been launched to secure the future of these 30 GMVs. By visiting a single landing page at: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-our-venues-red-list people can choose an individual venue to donate to.

If an individual target is reached by a particular venue the surplus donations will go towards supporting other venues in crisis.

As part of the crowdfunding efforts a new range of merchandise has been exclusively produced to support the campaign and available for delivery by Christmas. Every item bought directly supports a venue, with MVT paying the costs of printing, packing and delivery.

*********************

A message from the Editor:

Leeds has a fantastic story to tell - and the Yorkshire Evening Post has been rooted firmly at the heart of telling the stories of our city since 1890. We believe in ourselves and hope you believe in us too. We need your support to help ensure we can continue to be at the heart of life in Leeds.

Subscribe to our website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe. For more details on our newspaper subscription offers click here.

Thank you

Laura Collins