Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
Entertainment
Robert Dalling

Double impact of storm damage and coronavirus could shut Swansea live music venue for good

A live music venue in Swansea has launched a plea for help as the impact of coronavirus fears and storm damage have left it facing an uncertain future.

The Bunkhouse has organised a crowdfunding page asking for people to donate whatever they can to try to ensure the future of the Park Street venue, which opened in 2018 and regularly sees live bands perform.

It comes as the venue has admitted that the Covid-19 scare has had an impact on its schedule, with acts cancelled, and after damage caused as a result of Storm Dennis.

An attempt is being made to raise £5,000 which would cover bills, staff, and lost ticket sales for shows that do not go ahead. 

The Bunkhouse bar and music venue which has launched a fundraising campaign to cover bills, staff, and lost ticket sales (Jonathan Myers)

The post on its official Facebook page read: "We're not one to usually ask for help, we are far too proud and stubborn for that.

"We weren't overly vocal about the damage caused recently due to the bad weather as we didn't want to take away from the severity of the damage to our venue friends in the Valleys.

"We just buckled down and got contractors and friends in and have been doing our utmost to pay to repair the damage ourselves which is proving increasingly more and more expensive as we've had to essentially have our entire roof replaced, new electrics throughout, new plastering due, lots of drying out and damp proofing, and this is before any of the cosmetic damages.

"This was tough, and now with all these event cancellations because of the Covid-19 scare, it's just getting silly. Day after day we are having acts cancelled due to COVID-19 fears, from local acts to touring bands travelling around the country and those coming to us from outside the UK. We have had so many cancellations that we honestly don't know how we are going to get through this without gigs, and this is just the start."


The statement added that the whole entertainment industry had "a rocky road ahead of us all".

Unfortunately, like a lot of venues, we don't have the support of a large music promoter, and we most certainly aren't a chain, or a pub selling food or do other things that we can fall back on," it added.

"We are a dedicated live music venue run purely by a group of music enthusiastics who constantly punch above our weight to bring the best live acts and performances to Swansea in our little venue. We are a community-based venue, and fully rely on the music community of Swansea to support us daily.

"If things do became so bleak, which it is looking that way, we could end up closing, we wanted to know if the music community and our patrons would help us keep The Bunkhouse lights on and continue to bring a constant array of live music and acts within and after these bleak times ahead?

If you wish to donate towards the fundraiser, you can do so by clicking here .

"This isn't just our future, it's yours," added the venue

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.