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The Future Of Bluesnights (Part I) ...

Dear Friend of Bluesnights,
We would like to seek your views on the future of Bluesnights. If you've attended Bluesnights over the last few years you’ve probably noticed that audiences have shrunk in size quite significantly. In the 2006-7 season, our average audience was 78; by this season it had dropped to 59. Consequently, more than half this season's gigs have lost money – some as much as £250.

We have managed to balance the books by using the small reserve built up over the last ten years. However, if audiences don’t pick up early in the new season (September-December) by early 2010 we will be looking closely at whether Bluesnights can continue.

Some of the audience fall-off is undoubtedly due to the general economic downturn; however, that may not be the full picture. For example, we know that a sizeable percentage of our audience is comprised of retired people who may have seen both a reduction in their pensions and/or a loss of interest on their savings. If lack of money is a key factor in audience fall-off, then we need to know a bit more about who is experiencing financial constraints, so that we can see whether there is any way we can make Bluesnights more affordable.

Clearly, some factors are beyond our influence; car fuel prices, public transport, parking fees, child-care costs, etc. Also, Arts Centre drinks prices are not within our control. In fact, whilst we pay for the volunteer stewards who staff the bar, the profits go to the Arts Centre. Similarly, we cannot ask musicians who we contracted with up to two years ago to take a pay cut now in order to reduce ticket prices.

We held our 2007-8 prices for this year, and will strive to do so for 2009-10. However, the Arts Centre has told us that our monthly hire and associated costs will rise by almost 100% to approx. £200 next April, so our room for manoeuvre in this area is very small indeed.

We are a small (6) group of volunteers, none of whom gets any remuneration for running the monthly gigs and the vast amount of stuff that has to be done to put them on. So, we invite you to share your thoughts, ideas, and views on how we should proceed in planning for the future of Bluesnights. Tell us what you know or think has led to the downturn in Bluesnights audiences, and what you feel might help to return them to a more buoyant position.

Please e-mail us at: bluesnights@btinternet.com

All responses will be treated as confidential and any information you give us will be anonymised.

As an incentive, we will draw one response from all those received by 17 June 2009 and the sender will get a pair of complementary tickets for a Bluesnight in the next season that starts on Saturday 19 September 2009.

Tom Hopkins,
Founder & Chairman, Dorset Blues Society
Monday, 8th June 2009

'Purveyors of fine live blues since 1999'

Cara Weaver

The Cara Weaver Fund

Cara was a student at the first ever DBS Blues Summer School, back in 2000. She was a very talented young musician; her death in a holiday accident later that year was an enormous blow to her family and friends and a loss to the local music community.

The Cara Weaver Fund was founded in 2001 in her memory, with the aim of raising money to support young people in achieving their ambitions - musical, sporting and educational. The fund has provided bursaries for young people to attend Blues Summer School over the last five years, and helped launch our 'Big Girls Blues' singing project for local young women in 2005.

If you are interested in helping the fund, please send your donation to:

Gilly Weaver, Grove House, Osmington, Weymouth, Dorset DT3 6EZ
or e-mail: Gilly.Weaver@btinternet.com

Cheques can also be sent to: Mandy Cockwell, The Wey Valley School, Dorchester Road, Weymouth, Dorset DT3 5AN. Cash/cheques (payable to the Cara Weaver Fund) can be deposited at the HSBC Bank: St. Mary's Street, Weymouth.

Any support you can offer, either by way of donations or publicising this appeal, will me much appreciated.

Bluesfully yours,
Tom Hopkins
Chairman, Dorset Blues Society

From The Archives

"Ride over the Rockies in memory of Cara, aged 14"
© Dorset Evening Echo (5 August 2006, by Paul Greave):

BLUESNIGHTS music producer Tom Hopkins is planning a 600-mile charity cycle trip in memory of a Weymouth schoolgirl killed on holiday. Tom, 60, will cycle through the Canadian Rockies later this month to raise funds for the Cara Weaver Fund. Cara, 14, died in a cable car accident in 2001 while on holiday with her parents and brother in South Africa. The Wey Valley School pupil had visited the first of Tom’s blues summer schools for talented young musicians and following her death a fund was set up to provide bursaries for other youngsters to attend.

Tom, who has just retired from his job as a higher education consultant, said: “Cara was a talented musician, her death was an enormous blow to her family and friends, and a loss to the local music community.

“The Cara Weaver Fund was founded with the aim of raising money to support young people in achieving their ambitions - musical, sporting and educational. “I’ve wanted to do this ride since I first saw people cycling in the Rockies while driving through them in 1989. I’d now like to use my bike to try and put some money back into the fund so that it can help more young people.”

Tom will personally meet the £2,000 costs of the nine-day trip but is looking for people to sponsor him. He is due to take to the saddle on August 23 and has the full support of Cara's family.

He said: "Most of the journey will be on the roads and the longest day will cover about 85 miles, I expect it to be difficult but rewarding."

The Cara Weaver Fund has provided bursaries for young people to attend blues summer schools over the last five years and helped launch the Big Girls Blues’ singing project for local women in 2005. All money raised will go directly to the fund. If you are interested in sponsoring Tom, please email: Gilly.Weaver@ btinternet.com for details.