* Update - thanks to generous cash donations over the bar, we're delighted to announce that we've been able to reduce our total target down to £2,950.

Hi there. My name’s Piers, and I’m raising funds so that the Grit, a centre for the arts and heritage in Lowestoft, can survive the energy crisis, pay its bills, and continue to operate.

The Grit is housed in a disused magistrate’s court, on Old Nelson Street, in the North of Lowestoft. It’s an entirely independent venue. It’s staffed by an astounding group of volunteers and is run on a shoestring. There’s no arts funding behind it - in fact there’s no backing of any kind, save for the benefit of a rent-free period that expires in roughly a year’s time. We rely on the revenue we generate through hire fees, ticket sales, and the income we receive over our bar.

Up until now, I’ve thought that this was the right approach; it’s perhaps not the usual way for an arts centre to exist, but I believe strongly that our little venture ought to be self-sustaining. I think our country ought to be one in which a small business which offers arts and heritage-based experiences to all comers, regardless of class or creed, should be able to thrive alongside any other enterprise. And the Grit has been a way to prove that.

Up until very recently, it looked as though I was right. Almost as soon as the doors of the Grit opened, I was overwhelmed by the support and enthusiasm that people from all walks of life showed us. I quickly found that any work put into the Grit resulted in a far greater measure of interest, encouragement, and involvement from the local community.

The Grit has very rapidly become home to many individual demographics. We host meaningful heritage events at which people commemorate and celebrate the histories that matter to them; we risk our fragile bank balance by putting on live music acts from across the country that draw a small but dedicated audience of music lovers - and that audience grows with every gig. We run monthly film screenings in our small cinema, using equipment donated from our patrons. We host bold, eclectic variety evenings; a fantastic open-mic for artists in recovery; wonderful craft fairs attended by hundreds; radical political meetings; choir rehearsals, ukulele classes, and theatre groups for young people; a book club; an artist’s group; community discussion groups; a songwriter’s social; and plenty more, all organised by local people working colossally hard - not for riches, but for the love of it. We provide the space for an incredibly skilled guitar technician to run his business, and the studio for a magnificently talented local artist to work in. We’re halfway through turning a court room into a permanent gallery and exhibition space. At the heart of it if all of it, our cafe/bar area is open to all, and provides a place in which anyone meets anyone, and swaps ideas and stories over coffee, cake, and sandwiches.

The Grit is a place with a real soul - never top-down, but always of the people, for the people. Our team work for nothing but belief: Hugh, who came in to run a bookshop here and who is now as fundamental to the place as the bricks and mortar, always with a job in hand; Mary, never unwilling to pitch in wherever possible; Bob, our heritage Batman; now Mike, the new tireless sparkle behind the bar; and far too many other friends and allies to mention here, who help out in whatever way they can.

And between us all, unbelievably, we were making it happen. We paid our bills, kept our suppliers happy, and made sure our artists got their dues. Somehow, slowly but surely, we’d managed to set a bit aside for the day we’d have to pay a full commercial rent, and our income has been growing steadily. We were far from sorted…but there was a path to success that we could navigate. We were on the right track.

Until yesterday. Yesterday I received notice that the rates we pay for our electricity bills have risen from 13.247p per kWh to a massive 58.514p per kWh.

With our opening hours extending and our use of our premises growing, this means our electricity bills are set to rise from £90 to £1200 per month.

Our rent-free period is now entirely academic. Without help, we'll have no opportunity to pay the rent in a year's time, because we'll not get through the next two months. The Grit will close before spring is out and our plans to generate more revenue with more events, the opening of the Gallery and our Craft Beer Club will not have the opportunity to flourish.

If you can help prevent this, please, donate what you can. Every penny will be hugely appreciated and will go directly to the running costs of the venue.

We've got this far on the merit of what we're doing, and the extent to which our local community wish us to exist. We believe we deserve to be here this year, next year, and in into the future. If you too believe the Grit should continue to exist, now is the time to help us.

Thank you.

Piers

The Grit: Lowestoft Centre for the Arts and Heritage

www.gritartslowestoft.co.uk