News

4 October 2023

Courses and workshops at Newcastle’s community-owned music venue will be more accessible to local people on low incomes thanks to a £10,000 grant from the Community Foundation.

The new funding has been allocated to the cooperative that owns and runs The Globe in Railway Street from the Newcastle Cultural Investment Fund, which is managed by the Community Foundation. It will be used to support the popular programme of learning and participation at The Globe. Highly subsidised places will be made available to residents of Elswick, Benwell and Arthur’s Hill and also to young adults aged 18-25.

The programme includes afternoon and evening courses in Jazz, Folk, Bluegrass and Songwriting, and one-off workshops (both mixed and women-only). For full details see https://theglobenewcastle.bar/learning/

Dave Wood, Learning & Participation Manager at The Globe, said: “We’re delighted to receive this grant from the Community Foundation. It will enable more people, particularly in the West End of Newcastle, to access music learning opportunities. I would urge anyone who is eligible to make use of this special offer. The Globe is a fantastic and welcoming community resource as well as being a pretty cool place to spend time.”

Supporting education and providing services for the community are primary objectives of Jazz.Coop and it started running workshops and jam sessions even before it bought The Globe. At first the learning and participation programme concentrated on jazz, but in recent years it has included other genres and this expansion has proved very popular.

Dave Wood said: “It’s well known that playing music together has social and health benefits. Now we can extend those benefits to more people.”

Next year The Globe will be celebrating its tenth anniversary of community-ownership with the 10 YEARS A CO-OP festival on 26-30 April 2024.

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Globe is owned and run by Jazz.Coop, which is the trading name of Pink Lane Jazz Co-op Ltd, a registered cooperative society. It was bought freehold following a successful community share issue in 2014. The cooperative has over 230 members who elect a board of unpaid directors to manage the business.
Contact: Dave Wood, learning@jazz.coop

Newcastle’s community-owned music venue The Globe has won a Parliamentary Jazz Award for the second year running – a very rare achievement.

The Globe is now officially the UK “Jazz Venue of the Year” as voted by an independent panel of experts following a public vote. The announcement was made at the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group awards ceremony on 5 July 2022, supported by PizzaExpress Live.

Debra Milne, co-chair of the cooperative that owns The Globe, said:

“I am absolutely thrilled to accept this award on behalf of the team at The Globe. It is testament to the hard work put in by literally hundreds of individuals who have invested in the Jazz Coop and bought the Globe, the staff and volunteers who work here & look after the building, and the artists and hundreds of people who grace our venue each week seeking great music and great vibes.”

In 2021, The Globe won a special Parliamentary Jazz Award for Lockdown Innovation.

The Parliamentary Jazz Awards are organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group (APPJAG) with the support of PizzaExpress Live to celebrate and recognise the vibrancy, diversity, talent and breadth of the jazz scene throughout the United Kingdom.

Chi Onwurah, Deputy Chair of APPJAG (and MP for Newcastle Central) said: “This has been another really strong year for the Parliamentary Jazz Awards in terms of talent and nominations. The well deserved recipients are a veritable who’s who of names that have made a real impact on the music and helped make the UK one of the world’s leading jazz territories.”

The Globe hosts jazz, folk, rock and spoken word gigs as well as jam sessions, music workshops and private hires.

People can become members of the co-op and have a say in running The Globe by buying shares in this community-owned venture – see https://jazz.coop/join-us-membership-form/

Photo: Debra Milne and Chi Onwurah at the APPJAG 2022 Awards Ceremony.

• The Globe to receive £25,000 from the third round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
• The Globe is among 925 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the Culture Recovery Fund.
• This award will allow The Globe to continue its busy programme of live music gigs, courses and workshops.

More than £100 million has been awarded to hundreds of cultural organisations across the country in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today (19 November 2021). The third round of funding will support organisations as they deal with ongoing reopening challenges, ensuring they can thrive in better times ahead.

The Globe in Newcastle upon Tyne has been awarded a grant of £25,000 by Arts Council England. This funding will help The Globe to continue and expand its multi-genre range of live performances (including jazz, folk, rock, classical and spoken word) and its programme of music courses, workshops and jam sessions.

This is The Globe’s third successful application to the Culture Recovery Fund. Many fewer cultural organisations have received grants in the third round, which makes The Globe’s achievement remarkable. This year The Globe has also won two national awards (Co-op of the Year and Parliamentary Jazz Award) for its outstanding efforts to deliver live music during the pandemic.

Joan Parker, co-chair of the cooperative that owns and runs The Globe, said: “We are delighted and relieved to be awarded this further funding. Ever since the pandemic started, we have been determined to continue delivering the objectives of the co-op to support live music and learning in our community. We’ve achieved a lot with the help of grant funding and the hard work of volunteers and staff, but there is still a way to go before we return to sustainability. Audience numbers, especially for small venues such as The Globe, are low because many people remain understandably worried by the risk of infection.”

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “Culture is for everyone and should therefore be accessible to everyone, no matter who they are and where they’re from. Through unprecedented government financial support, the Culture Recovery Fund is supporting arts and cultural organisations so they can continue to bring culture to communities the length and breadth of the country, supporting jobs, boosting local economies and inspiring people.”

Over £1.2 billion has already been awarded from the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund, supporting around 5,000 individual organisations and sites across the country ranging from local museums to West End theatres, grassroots music venues to festivals, and organisations in the cultural and heritage supply-chains.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said: “This continued investment from the Government on an unprecedented scale means our theatres, galleries, music venues, museums and arts centres can carry on playing their part in bringing visitors back to our high streets, helping to drive economic growth, boosting community pride and promoting good health. It’s a massive vote of confidence in the role our cultural organisations play in helping us all to lead happier lives.”

Newcastle’s community-owned music The Globe has won a second award for its determination to keep live music going during the pandemic. It is the winner of the special Lockdown Innovation Award in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards announced last night (26 July) in an online presentation streamed from Pizza Express in Soho, London.

Earlier this month The Globe was declared the Small Community Co-op of the Year 2021. Both awards recognise the vision and determination of those who have helped keep The Globe going, providing income for musicians, employment for staff, and joy for lovers of live music.

Dave Parker, co-chair of the cooperative that owns The Globe, said: “Wow! Two awards in the same month. One from the co-op world and now one from the jazz world. It’s great that all our hard work is being rewarded. Running a small music venue is always a struggle and the last 18 months have been very challenging. Thank you to everyone who has supported us.”

The Parliamentary Jazz Awards are organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group (APPJAG) with the support of PizzaExpress Live to celebrate and recognise the vibrancy, diversity, talent and breadth of the jazz scene throughout the United Kingdom.

Chi Onwurah MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and Deputy Chair of APPJAG, said: “The Globe is a fantastic, co-operative, innovative cultural asset. Watching their streamed jazz concerts with friends in Newcastle and around the world was one of the highlights of lockdown, and now in-person concerts have resumed I look forward to enjoying local, national and international jazz talent in this warm and intimate venue.”

The Globe hosts jazz, folk, rock, classical and spoken word gigs that are enjoyed by small audiences in the venue and by more via high-quality livestream. The Globe also has a programme of music courses, workshops and jam sessions.

People can become members of the co-op and have a say in running The Globe by buying shares – see https://jazz.coop/join-us-membership-form/

Our determination to keep live music going during the pandemic has been rewarded with a national award. Following a public vote, The Globe was declared the Small Community Co-op of the Year 2021. The Awards are organised by Co-operatives UK – the network for Britain’s thousands of co-operative businesses – and sponsored by The Co-operative Bank.

Dave Parker, co-chair of the co-op that owns The Globe, said, “We’re delighted with this award because it recognises the vision, determination and hard work of members, volunteers and everyone else who helped keep us going during the pandemic, providing income for musicians, employment for staff, and joy for lovers of live music.

“Eight years ago, The Globe was a failing pub. Today it is an award-winning music venue and learning centre owned and run by a co-operative.

“It’s often been a struggle but we’ve succeeded by keeping people engaged. When lockdown started we invited our supporters to shape the future of The Globe and the response has been very positive – with donations, investments, volunteers, and loads of creative energy.

“We worked with musicians to develop livestreaming, and soon decided this was the way forward. The Globe was refurbished, and new equipment was installed by volunteers. We were fortunate in accessing funding from Power to Change and the Culture Recovery Fund.”

The Globe hosts jazz, folk, rock, classical and spoken word gigs that are enjoyed by small audiences in the venue and by more via livestream. It is set to hold a multi-genre festival on 23-25 July which is expected to be the first weekend after restrictions in England are lifted. The Globe also has a full programme of music courses, workshops and jam sessions ready to restart.

Rose Marley, CEO of Co-operatives UK said, “Huge congratulations to The Globe who have worked so hard … Rooted in their community, their members have a stake and a say, sharing in the co-op’s success, but also coming together when they are needed. And because they are a co-op, these values are sustainable, they are not just a flash in the pan reaction to a crisis – their ethics form a core part of the organisation now and into the future.”

The Globe has been shortlisted for two other awards and is hoping for more good news by the end of July.

People can become members of the co-op and have a say in running The Globe by buying shares – see https://jazz.coop/join-us-membership-form/