00:00 The whole scene is in crisis point I think. 30 of the 131 London grassroots venues, they've
00:09 reached out for help. So it's not just us, there's a much wider problem in this area.
00:15 Obviously it's a difficult period for so many people, but I think there needs to be something
00:20 done in order to secure the future of venues like this.
00:24 Luna, a grassroots music venue in East London, is fighting to keep its doors open. Post-pandemic
00:30 challenges and rising costs has meant that Luna has started a fundraiser in order to
00:35 try and continue its work for local musicians and others in the community.
00:41 So my name's Declan Walsh, I'm the owner of Luna in Leytonstone. We have a campaign right
00:46 now to raise funds for the venue because we are in a position where we're at a critical
00:51 point. The venue accrued arrears during the pandemic and the fundraiser is simply to secure
00:58 the lease for us. So we need to pay off the arrears from that period and also pay a year
01:03 in advance for our rent for the landlord just to make sure that we are able to secure that
01:10 lease.
01:11 When I first came to Luna, I had a friend and she said that there was an open mic and
01:19 she wanted me to come down. So I came and did a couple of songs and then the booker
01:26 at the time asked if I would like to do a gig and then I came back and did another gig
01:33 and it was always in the back of my mind that I just wanted to come back because I'd just
01:37 moved to London and I was very excited about everything.
01:42 It's just like a safe place for me to come. There's not really many places that anyone,
01:52 especially here as well, we're allowed to have multiple ages and young people and old
01:57 people and people from all different backgrounds and you don't have to pay for anything. You
02:01 can just come on any day of the week and come and chill and meet people and watch music.
02:08 For me that is incredibly important.
02:12 Luna means everything to myself. It's something which I've invested everything I have into
02:17 it. That's my time, my energy, blood, sweat, tears. But it's much more than that. It's
02:23 about the people that come here. It's about the people that walk through these doors.
02:28 If they're a musician, they have a great platform. If they're a customer, we create a bubble
02:33 around them so they can have a great night and forget all their troubles at the doors
02:37 and go home happy.
02:38 If they're someone who worked in the team, it's a grassroots music venue but it's a grassroots
02:43 place for everyone around us. These are the opportunities that people just wouldn't get.
02:47 It's your first chance to do something which you really love and there's no pressure around
02:51 it because everyone else is learning. That could be marketing, that could be social media,
02:55 photography, absolutely everything. We try and make sure that with everything we have,
03:01 we give people a chance to improve themselves.
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