By Darren Grayer.
News broke last Thursday that Winchester music venue, The Railway Inn, was in financial difficulty, and would be setting up a crowd funder to safeguard its immediate future
It is the latest in an ever-growing list of venues since Covid struck to struggle with every-day running costs.
As Winchester’s only grassroots music venue, it has, for many years, provided a platform for comedy and poetry, as well as touring and local musicians with regular open-mic nights, proving itself to be a highly important cultural building within the city.
Artists such as Frank Turner and This Is The Kit have both gone on to become well known in the music industry after spending their early years playing regularly at The Railway.
Turner’s song, Wessex Boy, pays tribute to his Hampshire upbringing and references several landmarks in the city, including the venue. Both he and lead singer with This Is The Kit, Kate Stables, have recorded videos to throw their weight behind the campaign. The band’s bass player, Rozi Plain, also grew up in Winchester and played a homecoming gig at the venue last October, showcasing her solo material.
Since the announcement, the response has been remarkable, with well over 30 thousand of the 35 thousand pound target raised in just over four days, and more than a thousand people contributing.
This should, hopefully provide some respite for the venue and allow it to put in place a structure for the longer term, which hopefully will include some input from the Music Venues Trust.
What is also striking is the hugely heartening response from fellow music venues in the area, with both The Brook, and The Joiners sharing the story on their social media platforms, proving what strength of feeling and genuine concern there is among the local music community.
Added to that, there will also be a fundraising event at The Railway on Friday 5 September – under the billing of Folk Saves The Day – which will see three seasoned and acclaimed local folk musicians, Megan Linford, Jack Francis, and Rob Clamp perform to help save the venue.
There will also be a charity raffle with some donated goodies on the night and tickets for the evening are on sale now.
https://crowdfunder.co.uk/p/savetherailwayinn
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