Docks Academy has recently won a funding bid through the Arts Council England for Grassroots Music! This funding has raised £40,000 to make improvements to the venue’s accessibility, as well as supporting the development and expansion of our grassroots music programme.
We have secured a The National Lottery Project Grant for funding to develop grassroots music, build our youth audience, and improve accessibility in and around the performance space.
The money will be spread over three years and the first installment of £20,000 has already landed. It will enable us to develop and expand our Fresh Catch programme, a series of nights which support local and emerging music talent, as well as provide more opportunities for musicians to use the space for rehearsal on a subsidised basis. We will also be installing a defibrillator, and a noise management system so that we can protect both our staff, and the audience from noise-related damage to hearing.
It’s a massive boost to the venue. It immediately allows us breathing room to put on more Fresh Catch nights and more grassroots music programming with less financial pressure if audiences aren’t at maximum capacity. We’re 100% committed to supporting emerging and local music artists in Grimsby, and to helping inspire the next generation of music makers.
It’s vital for these artists to have a regular platform at a smaller venue like ours and we want our audience to have the chance to hear artists when they’re starting out and see and hear them from a close vantage point. We are just as passionate about getting more young people to see live music and we will be exploring ways we can also develop a younger 14-25 audience base for music events.
We want to extend a big thank you to our venue manager, Katie-Lou Green, who works tirelessly on our grant applications. Her dedication plays a major part in receiving this money.
As luck would have it we’ve just announced our next Fresh Catch night, Fresh Catch 4, taking place on Friday 2nd February. If you haven’t yet been to one and enjoy seeing live music we would encourage you to come and see the amazing new music talent our region has to offer. It’s a great feeling to know you’ve been there from their first shows and witnessed their growth into recognised talent in the music industry. On the bill is Intercity, an Electronic Rock band from Grimsby, Hard Rock band Riverwolf, from Grimsby, and Drum N’ Bass DJ M-Fatic, also from Grimsby!
Tickets for Fresh Catch 4 are available here.