Press Release: ROOFRAISER BENEFIT SUCCESS INSPIRES SECOND MONTH OF CONCERTS
The Roofraiser benefit concerts produced by The Forest Cafe and Ten Tracks for the Save the Forest Campaign have been a resounding success, and have inspired a second series of benefit concerts, Roofraiser II, that will be held in Edinburgh throughout May.
Over £1,000 has been raised already, and over 800 people have attended the live music events held in April, with the help of 60 artists, 200 musicians and several of the Edinburgh’s established music promoters.
A competition to create artistic black and white designs for posters to promote the Roofraiser concerts was run by the forward-looking arts collective, Dundee-based Yuck n Yum. Ten specially curated works of art, chosen from submissions by 60 artists, are being work printed and posted around the city.
Harry Giles, Fundraising Officer for the Save the Forest campaign, said, “It’s been really fantastic to work with Ten Tracks on Roofraiser. The Forest cares a lot about collaborating on exciting and ambitious projects with a diversity of groups—- and it’s been wonderful to have so many organisations like Ten Tracks rally round to support the Save the Forest campaign, which is so important for Edinburgh’s arts community.”
The Forest Cafe, one of the few remaining independent art centres in the city, has been running a campaign to raise funds to stay in the building since October, when Edinburgh University Settlement (EUS), who owns the Forest’s premises at 3 Bristo Place, was declared bankrupt and forced into administration.
A second series of benefit concerts, Roofraiser II, will be hosted at The Forest and other venues throughout Edinburgh on Tuesday through Sunday evenings until early June, including performances at The Forest Stage at the upcoming Meadows Festival on 4-5 June. A schedule and further details can be found on The Forest web site at http://blog.theforest.org.uk.
“It’s been great realising again just how much variety of quality music there is on offer in Edinburgh, and how truly unique the atmosphere at The Forest is. If April’s anything to go by, I can’t wait for what we have coming up in the rest of May,” said Ed Stack of Ten Tracks, which hopes to showcase over 500 musicians over the course of the Roofraiser concerts. “I’m especially looking forward to Francois and the Atlas Mountains on Tuesday May 10th. The weekend of the 13th/14th is also looking great, as is the Meadows festival at the start of June… If you’re looking for a way to do your bit for The Forest, Roofraiser is a great example of that Forest atmosphere that can’t be found anywhere else—- and your donation will help it to survive,” said Ed Stack of Ten Tracks, which hopes to showcase over 500 musicians over the course of the Roofraiser concerts.”
Ten Tracks is a unique and innovative record label for the marketing and retail of music, which responds to online music listening culture in a way that has not been achieved to date by the major music industry, and offers a platform for emerging artists in the thriving music community of Scotland’s central belt. For more information, see their web site at http://www.tentracks.co.uk.
FUNDRAISING UPDATE
As of today, over 1,500 people have pledged their support in the Save the Forest e-petition, and the Forest has raised nearly £25,000 towards the purchase of the building or future rent—- halfway towards the goal of £50,000 by 1 June.
Artists and celebrities who have pledged their support so far include Stephen Fry, musicians Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley, Guardian theatre journalist Lyn Gardner, playwright Lucy Kirkwood, and artists Andy Field and Deborah Pearson.
The Forest would like to remind people of three simple actions that they can take now to help Save the Forest:
SIGN THE E-PETITION at http://gopetition.com/petition/43255.html declaring your support for the campaign and for Forest to stay in its home. This will show just how many of us there are. If you use social networks, you can also tweet or Facebook about that petition from that site, follow us @foresttweets on Twitter, and you can “Like” our Facebook page.
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TEAM by offering your time, energy and skills. We want to hear every offer, from doing admin to running events, from smooching celebs to chugging on the street. E-mail fundraising@theforest.org.uk to offer you help, and see http://blog.theforest.org.uk/savetheforest for more information.
COMMIT TO A MONTHLY DONATION. The more money we have, and the more secure our income, the stronger a position we are in. You can be giving as little as £3 a month and be making a huge and significant contribution to Forest: it’s a much better way than just throwing money into a bucket. You can get forms at the cafe or online at http://blog.theforest.org.uk/savetheforest
BACKGROUND
The Forest is one of Edinburgh’s last remaining open-access arts centres, and has become an award-winning Fringe venue (The Forest Fringe). The volunteer-run charity operates an art gallery (Total Kunst), a theatre, performance and rehearsal spaces, a darkroom, a publishing house, a swap shop, a record label, a hairdresser, and a thriving vegetarian cafe. It has inspired like-minded projects and people all over the world, from Switzerland to Korea.
The Forest is not sponsored by the government, city council or the arts council. It has been been running a successful alternative business since it was established in August 2000, thanks to the commitment of a large and enthusiastic team of volunteers. It is a registered charity (SC038234), funded mainly by the Forest Cafe, and by the rental of facilities and the sale of books from Forest Publishing and music from Forest Records. In keeping with their ethos that art should be accessible, all of their events and workshops are free.
A detailed press pack about the Forest’s work is available at: http://www.theforest.org.uk/forestpresspack.pdf
Previous publicity and information about the campaign can be found at: http://blog.theforest.org.uk/savetheforest
CONTACT
The Forest, 3 Bristo Place, Edinburgh http://www.theforest.org.uk (Twitter: @foresttweets)
Harry Giles Fundraising Officer / Media Contact fundraising@theforest.org.uk 07766191817