HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE GEORGE TAVERN!

First things first, thank you so much for taking the time to be here, with us, and be a part of our campaign to save The George Tavern. Whoever you are, wherever you are and whatever your contribution or curiosity – we are eternally grateful for your support. Without it, we would have to close the doors to this historic London landmark which has served the surrounding community for nearly 400 years.

WHO ARE WE?

We are The George Tavern. A pub, a bar, an East End boozer in the heart of Stepney, London. We are a live music venue showcasing a wide variety of independent and established acts every week with a 3am license on weekends. We are a platform for thousands of artists from all over the UK and the rest of the world. We are celebrity photo-shoots and film sets. We are in the annals of Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens and Samuel Pepys. We are full-timers, part-timers and over-timers. Friends, family, comrades, brothers and sisters. We are locals, regulars, pub-crawlers and tourists. We are a quiet evening beer after a long day at work and tray of Jaeger bombs with your best pals. We are indie, rock, classical, jazz, soul, cabaret, electronic, folk, blues, singer-songwriter, hip-hop and dance. We are new music giving a stage to up and coming bands, helping them on the road to mainstream success.

We are 400 years of pulling pints and 200 years of live music, theatre and art. We are, in one word, an institution.


WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

Adjoined to our beloved bar is Stepney's Nightclub – an empty, derelict site which developers intend to knock down and build six luxury apartments. Should their plans go ahead unchallenged we will not only suffer in terms of business and trade, but also lose out on what makes The George Tavern so special to thousands of people – it's live music.
. Fear of noise complaints will undoubtedly mean having our live music and 3am license revoked. The loss of revenue would make the business no longer viable. It would be a very sad day for us and the wider London music scene if we can no longer showcase live acts simply because our wealthy neighbours are being disturbed every night. For The George Tavern to keep going without it's live music is like the human body functioning without it's heart.

We have already been fighting plans to build these luxury apartments for over 8 years (see campaign site). By selling T-shirts, hosting fundraisers and club nights we have made a start raising money for legal costs to challenge the plans. But there's only so much income this has generated - which is why we now turn to you for your help.

(Photo: Georgia May Jagger)

HOW WILL YOUR MONEY BE SPENT

Quite simply – legal costs. For the developers, going to court isn't much of a financial burden.  For us, it's not so straight forward. Having recently appealed to the High Court we have felt the expensive sting of the legal process. It's no stingy business. In order to save The George Tavern we have to fight fire with fireworks. Your collective pledges will go towards the best possible legal team we can afford. 

We have set a modest target which won't cover all of our increasing legal costs. We therefore hope to exceed this target and set reach goals which will also go towards our fees. We really mean it when we say that every penny or pound counts!

ENDORSEMENTS

Here at the George Tavern, we have won the support of many famous artists, musicians and public figures. Should you make a pledge to our campaign you will be in the fine company of the likes of Amy Winehouse, Sir Ian McKellen, Kate Moss and Nick Cave! Not a bad crowd, ay?

(Photos: Leon Bridges, Kate Moss, Sir Ian McKellen and Pauline Forster)

THE BIGGER PICTURE

In the last 12 months London has undergone a wave of gentrification on a scale never seen before. Numerous community assets and historic landmarks have made way for profits in property development with little to no concern on how it effects places like The George Tavern.

The housing company are hoping we give up under such financial pressure. But we won't. Ever. Whatever it takes and however much it costs, we will, with your kind support, fight this until the very end. History demands us not to roll over and give in just because we can't afford to keep fighting. London is more than lavish apartments for rich folk. It is a culture of music and art unrivalled anywhere else in the world. The stakes are high. Your contribution is invaluable.

A FINAL THANK YOU!

We really cannot thank you enough for your pledges. We have been overwhelmed by the contributions already made by our current supporters. Now, we look forward to opening our doors to many more hundreds of people through this online crowdfunder. Your contribution will not just save a historic pub from going under, it will help thousands of musicians to keep the London music scene alive.

If we could give you all an individual group hug - we would! But we can't... So, instead, we have listed a bunch of great perks for you all to scramble over!

So thank you again for being here to read/watch our campaign. Together we WILL Save The George Tavern!

MORE INFO ON THE CAMPAIGN

Save The George Tavern Campaign Site

Dazed and Confused article - On The Brink The George Tavern staves off gentrification 

Music Heritage Podcast - Save The George Tavern 

PERKS (IMAGES)

Photo: 'Becoming Johnny Vegas' - Signed and Illustrated

Image: Limited edition T-shirts featuring artwork by Pauline Forster

Image: New T-shirt colours added  

Image: Life Drawing by Pauline Forster, 86 x 86cm

Image: Life Drawing by Pauline Forster

Image: Life Drawing by Pauline Forster

Image: Life Drawing by Pauline Forster, 119.38 x 99cm

Image: Life Drawing by Pauline Forster

Image: Life Drawing by Pauline Forster, 33 x 69cm

Image: Life Drawing by Pauline Forster

Image: Life Drawing by Pauline Forster, 119 x 88cm

Image: Life Drawing by Pauline Forster, 119 x 99cm

Image: Life Drawing by Pauline Forster, 134 x 100cm

Image: Artwork by Beatrice Brown