“Sister Midnight’s venue will be owned and democratically controlled by local people, not-for-profit, and seeks to radically re-imagine the role of music venues in communities.”
Lenny, Founder of Sister Midnight
Community-owned Creative Catalyst
Catford, London
meet ...
Lenny
Our why
Our community has witnessed the decimation of cultural infrastructure, in particular the loss of our grassroots music venues. Our borough, Lewisham has a strong cultural legacy, but the loss of venues puts the whole local cultural scene at risk. Meanwhile communities, who are the creators and incubators of local talent, are losing out on the social and economic benefits of being able to give it a platform, along with the wellbeing and cohesion that local creative hubs can provide.
Our idea
We believe music can provide a transformational opportunity for local people, increasing wellbeing and cohesion. So everyone should have access to a great music venue. We’re bringing a new venue to Lewisham that will fill a huge gap in the borough’s cultural offering, while also setting a precedent for how it can be done differently. Having secured a lease from the council on a disused working men's club in the heart of Catford, we will transform it into a high quality space that will enable participation in live music, offer support for local businesses and create a renewed sense of community belonging.
Our hope is to build reserves that will enable us to purchase a permanent home for our venue, which will therefore be owned and democratically controlled by local people.
With Footwork's support ...
About
Lenny aims to embrace with confidence the financial and project management role required as work on the building commences in 2024. The programme will give her and the team the headspace to work on bringing their building back into use.
Sister Midnight Community Venues
Established in 2018, Sister Midnight was formerly a grassroots music venue based in Deptford. After being forced to leave their space during the pandemic, Sister Midnight launched a campaign in 2021 to create Lewisham's first community owned music venue.