Brockley Max organisers have launched a crowdfunding campaign to save the community arts festival which is threatened by big cuts in council funding.
The festival, which has been running for 18 years, needs to replace the £5,000 it has lost through council cuts. It aims to raise £6,500 – as well as public awareness of the event.
The crowd funding campaign – on the GoFundMe online platform – kicked off at Halloween with a spooky Frightful Yarns story-telling event at the Honor Oak pub.
The festival costs around £32,000 to stage each year and it is hoped the crowdfunding campaign will raise enough to replace the lost grants plus a bit extra to cover the costs of professional lighting and sound support.
As Moira Tait, festival director, told Ladywell-Live in the summer: “Brockley Max has never been a commercial festival. All our income is used to cover costs and keep the event going the following year.”
“We’ve always aimed to keep as many events as possible free to ensure it is accessible to as many local people as possible. But council funding funding cuts will pose a serious threat to the future of the festival.”
With the government’s austerity drive forcing Lewisham to slash budgets, Ladywell and other local assemblies have lost the council funds they have used to support initiatives such as Brockley Max.
Assembly funding has always been very important for the festival, especially for the closing Art in the Park event on Hilly Fields. The Ladywell Assembly provided £2,500 for the event 2019.
The Brockley Max organising committee has been applying for funding from other sources such as the City Airport Arts Fund. It also seeking funding from Lewisham’s Neighbourhood Council Infrastructure Levy which it is hoped will replace some of the assembly grants.
Brockley Max says it is awaiting confirmation of these funding applications. Funding for the Volunteer Co-Ordinator has been found – a big boost for the festival which largely run by volunteers.
This year there were more than 70 different events across Brockley, Ladywell, Crofton Park and Honor Oak, and they attracted thousands of people.
The organisers will be running a series of fund raising events over the next few months. The crowd funding donation page is https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-brockley-max