#crobar

Re-open The Crobar

London, England, United Kingdom

As most of you know, Covid-19 and the response of the insurance companies and landlords to this disaster have forced The Crobar out of business after 19 years of awesome rock n' roll fun.

This will not do!

Back in June, when I realised there was no way we would survive, I was heartbroken.

As well as the obvious loss of all our jobs, I was hit hard by the thought that there are Crobar friends that I've seen on a regular basis for donkeys years, that I would never see again.

This made me very sad. I also realised from texts and Facebook comments that most of our customers felt the same way.

"Get another ship"

At that time it felt like the end of the world, but one night soon after, I was reading my daughter a bedtime story, and half way through the book, the pirates ship sunk. "Oh no" I said, "How will the pirates get the treasure now?"

My daughter shrugged and said, "They're pirates Daddy, they'll just get another ship"

Back then I thought I'd make it out of Manette St. with enough cash to buy a new bar. Sadly, that was wishful thinking. The landlord had other ideas and now we need your help to raise money to start again, and to be bigger and better than before.

A new home for The Crobar

This time the plan is to find a premises that can accommodate a better shaped bar, a separate live music venue, and more than 3 toilets!

By the time Covid and government policy has finished destroying the bar and music industry, there won't be many small venues left. As music has given me so much throughout my life, this seems like the perfect opportunity for me to give something back to music, as well as give our regular customers back their office, social club, meeting room and Rock n' Roll hangout.

To achieve this we will need at the very least £200,000.  The aim of this campaign is to raise a minimum of £95,000, in order to borrow the rest from the bank.  Obviously, the more we raise here, the less we will need to rely on the bank, 'cos let's face it, they're nobody's friend!

As for the time frame of the project, Covid willing we are aiming to reopen towards the end of 2021, but in a world where we don't know what will be happening next week, we cannot as yet promise a date.

This is the bit where we have to ask you for your help. As we need money to make this happen, we're running a prize draw to raise the cash.

What we need you to do

I need your help to make this happen. Firstly, there will be a beer or shot for everybody who donates £25 or more. You will receive a drinks token which you can use at any time in the future and I'll be putting all the names of our supporters permanently on a wall somewhere in the new place.

I'm also giving you the chance to win some Crobar stuff. Pick one of the rewards on this page and you'll be entered into the prize draws. The more you donate, the more draws you'll be entered in to. For example, if you donate £40, you will be entered in to the draw to win a belt buckle. If you donate £75, you will stand the chance of winning a Zippo, a t-shirt and a belt buckle. If you donate £1000, you will be entered in to every draw and you could win any one of the prizes.

We thank you in advance for your generosity, and please share our campaign with anybody you think will support us in reopening The Crobar. I very much look forward to seeing you all again for drunken chats and high jinks.

Long live Rock n' Roll!