Welcome ‘lifeline’ for venue thanks to music enthusiasts’ support
£23,000 raised for The Wedge
A CITY music venue has been given a lifeline thanks to the generosity of Portsmouth music lovers.
The Wedgewood Rooms has been hosting live music acts and comedians since 1992 but was forced to close its doors for the first time in 28 years due to the restrictions of lockdown.
A statement from The Wedge said: ‘ We did t his ahead of gover nment intervention as we thought it was the most socially responsible thing to do. Something which we did for the sake of our staff and the public ahead of the l ockdown instructions from the gover nment.
‘There is still a lot of uncertainty around when lockdown will be lifted, what that will mean for us and if we will make it that far. We anticipate and accept our sector will be one of the last to reopen but this will sadly put a significant amount of financial strain and pressure on the building.’
In the battle to survive, the venue’s general manager, Geoff Priestley signed up to the Music Venues Charity Trust to launch a campaign to save the popular venue. The Wedge’s Crowdfunding page has now raised over
£23,000 of its £24,000 target.
Geoff said: ‘I have been completely overcome by people’s response – in the first day we hit our initial target of £12,000. It j ust
shows what the venue means to the people of Portsmouth.’
With no customers since March and the furlough scheme set to finish at the end of this month, the money raised is essential for the venue to remain viable.
‘This money has been a real lifeline in helping us to survive until the spring when hopefully the situation will improve,’ added Geoff.
The pandemic has seen
the furloughing of 22 staff including social media manager, Matthew Tiller.
Matthew was missing the Wedge so much that he decided to recreate a digital version of the venue.
He said: ‘I was really missing being at the building and had a lot of ti me to myself and so I decided to virtually replicate the layout of the Wedge.
‘I have not yet decided whether I’m going to use it to create a video game or a virtual tour.’
The News is keen to support the Wedge as part of our Show Must Go On campaign to support l ocal arts and culture.
This money has been a real lifeline in helping us to survive until the spring. Geoff Priestley