Blondies launches fundraiser amid licensing review: “We’re not ready to go quietly”

Blondies have just launched a vital fundraiser to help keep both Clapton and Leyton bars alive amid a licensing review for the latter venue.

Owners Sharmaine and Verity Cox have announced that they’re hoping to raise £100,000 in the next three months – £20k of which is needed much more urgently – following “a licensing review triggered by a small number of complaints”.

A statement from the sisters explains that, “With no support from our landlord or local council our Leyton venue is at risk of losing the right to play any music at all. That includes live performances and recorded music, from full band nights to DJs, playlists, and background sound.

“For a venue and brand built around the culture of music, that would be a devastating blow. And the knock-on effect would reach far beyond one location – our Clapton site would also be at risk of closing as everything we have made and borrowed from that venue is now all under threat.”

Home to The K! Pit among many other brilliant DJ nights and independent gigs, Blondies is, as Sharmaine and Verity themselves say, “a space that champions underrepresented artists, alternative culture, grassroots music and DIY ethics”.

They stress that, “Losing the right to play music both live and background would tear the heart out of everything we’ve built. London’s independent venues are dropping like flies pushed out by development, noise complaints, rising costs and red tape. We’ve always stood our ground, but right now, we’re in the fight of our lives.”

You can donate right here.

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