Help the Bendigo Hotel team

As of today the 27/08/2020, $8,399.41 has been raised. You are all helping the Bendigo Hotel team save our much loved Live Music Venue. 

We will continue to give you all weekly updates on the donation amount. 

Kama, you're the sun in our shine. 

And Elissa Jewel from Deadlifts and Deathmetal I just fell off my chair when I saw your donation. 

Also, Mark Aitken ended up selling CDs from his collection for $150 - legend. CDs are hard to give up. We are very grateful for your donation and sacrifice of collected CDs

And to all of you generous music-loving, bendi-loving souls who are doing it just as hard if not harder than us we THANK YOU. 

WE OWE YOU. YOU HAVE LIFTED OUR RESOLVE TO KEEP ON FIGHTING.

Live music venues are shutting down. Every day another venue door closes, as we struggle to survive the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Bendigo Hotel now calls for your help to reopen its doors

In a nutshell, this is Live Music in Melbourne

Melbourne thrives from its live music. It is the beating pulse that binds us together and pumps money into our local economy.  Live Music creates over 42,000 jobs and contributes $1.7 billion to the Victorian economy.

Live music is performed in 553 venues and clubs across Melbourne and 197 venues in regional Victoria. It encompasses dozens of genres and ranges of music.

We must stand up together if we are going to protect our status as one of the great global live music cities.

If we close, it has a domino effect on staff, musicians, bookers, organisers; suppliers and their workers; food venues and other business that surround the venue; GST and liquor tax revenue; tourism and Melbourne’s international reputation as the music capital of the world and most liveable city.

We have to make sure there’s a lifeline so venues (and Melbourne) can open again when the worst has passed, which may be months away.

Music venues might be able to weather the storm for a few weeks but many if not most venues will close in the coming months, never to open again.  All those years of experience, networks, loyal customers, reputation and culture will be gone.

We need funding now to help with upcoming expenses, as we have no revenue with the current policy of social isolation.

We ask the State Government and local Councils to help us find alternative uses for venue spaces during the lockdown, including:

• Offices, projects and storage for government and private business needs
• Expanding initiatives such as Creative Spaces
• Providing local funding streams to keep venues operating.

It’s time for the businesses that have benefited from the music scene to support their main source of income. Companies that have the financial and logistical resources to support venues to stay afloat during this lockdown:

• Landlords:
  • Constructively work with venues to create sustainable plans to ensure the continuation of leases
  • Moratorium on apartments being built on venue sites.
• PPCA and APRA to pause fees
• Ticketing companies: Moshtix, Ticketek, Ticketmaster, Oztix and Eventbrite to provide financial and logistical support to venues
• Liquor suppliers: ALM, Paramount, CUB and Lion Nathan to defer payments, buyback stock and support our fundraiser campaign
• Insurance companies: amend current policies to reflect our current closed state and pause coverage not being used
• Utilities: a pause on debt notices and discontinuation of supply until businesses are up and running.

Sign our petition http://chng.it/6gTbhR6KBd Please note: donations on Change.org do not go to the Bendigo Hotel. They go to Change.org