SAVING THE CELLAR By Gabrielle Van Meurs
The story of how some some nightclubs are relying on crowdfunding to stay open.
So many clubs, pubs and music venues bring a community together. They have so much history with people that when they are on the brink of closure it isn't money that saves them, it's the people. A recent case of this happening is with the last family ran music venue, the Cellar, in Oxford. A nightclub and live music stage that dates back to the 1970s, The Cellar has been named one of Oxford's finest independent music venues and even plays host to the occasional comedy night. It is loved by the people of London for staying true to itself and not being pressured into going corporate like a lot of other nightclubs. Back in 2017, safety regulations stated that the fire escape was too small and that the venue would only be able to cater to a mere 60 people instead of its original 150. This put the future of the business in jeopardy and closure was on the horizon. It was around this time that the Cellar 26
Forever campaign and hashtag #savethecellar was created. The Cellar has had many famous music guests such as Foals, Mumford & Sons, Glass Animals and Noah and the Whale. This has gained them a lot of popularity and a reputation for giving up and coming stars a start. So when manager Tim Hopkins launched the crowdfunding page and campaign he was met with a huge response. The original goal was ÂŁ80,000 to fund new building work that would keep the place alive however it quickly surpassed that amount and is currently at a massive ÂŁ92,970 with thousands still supporting the page. During the campaign some bigger names such as the former member of Pulp Jarvis Cocker, folk singer Frank Turner, Rick Stein, and DJ Judge Jules got involved to show their support. Philip Selway, from Radiohead, donated a signed snare drum to the cause and when talking about it
