‘We have come to the end of the line’ – Sheffield nightclub launches Covid crowdfunding appeal

Hope Works, on Sussex Road, Attercliffe, was set up in 2012 but is now at real risk of closure after the coronavirus crisis meant they have had to stay closed for the last six months.

Over the last eight years, they have hosted some of the biggest names in electronic music including pioneering techno DJs Jeff Mills and Dave Clark, and last year even welcomed Castleton-based garage rock back Drenge.

And since 2017, the team behind Hope Works have also staged No Bounds, an annual arts, technology and music festival modelled on Barcelona’s hugely popular Sonar, which won ‘best boutique festival’ in DJ magazine in 2019.

But founder Liam O’Shea says that without more funding, the club will have to close and this year’s No Bounds will probably be the last.

He said: “Music venues were the first things to close and they will be the last to reopen. We urgently need help if we are going to survive the pandemic.”

“We are getting no help from the Government and we are on our knees. We have come to the end of the line.”

Liam says Hope Works needs about £24,000 over the next six months if they are to stay afloat, plus another £6,000 to pay for No Bounds after it lost its Arts Council funding due to the pandemic.

This year’s virtual festival will run from October 12-18 at eight venues across Sheffield including Hope Works itself and Kelham Island Museum, with performances live-streamed to fans over the internet.

“I’ve never done anything like asking for money before but Hope Works has really blossomed since we set it up and I want to keep that going,” said Liam.

“With No Bounds, we wanted to bring something like the big European music festivals to Sheffield and the north. It is not a commercial venture at all. This is my passion.”

To find out more about Hope Works and the No Bounds festival, or to donate, visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-hope-works.

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