Hello, we are Wilmer Stridsberg, Caroline Poulsen and Micah Sardinha, three BA Music Business Management students. We are working towards establishing a new brand called Grounds Sessions, an interesting new business concept designed to showcases acoustic artists while helping local charity in the process.
Based in north London, Grounds Sessions is a non-profit organisation that was created with the intention of organising charity pop-up gigs at independent coffee shops. Our mission is to create a vibrant community where people can enjoy free acoustic music whilst helping to raise money for a good cause. The Grounds Sessions concept will also work as a platform for showcasing new talent and help to promote independent coffee shops to new customers.
A Grounds Sessions gig brings people together who are looking for an intimate live experience whilst enjoying a nice cup of coffee. It is the perfect event for coffee shop owners who want to raise their brand awareness and help bring the community together. We are looking for coffee shops that are willing to donate a percentage to the designated charity of the day and in return we will plan, organise and promote both the event and their brand.
As an artist you get the chance to perform in a cosy environment while being filmed by our professional videographer Max Alford Sancto. The video, which will be promoted on our YouTube channel, will be free to use for both our artists and the coffee shops.
When and Where?
On the 24th of March we will host our first Grounds Sessions gig at the new, cosy café Hygge Pygge in the heart of Camden. Venue owner Valentina Bilo says:
"Our mission is to establish cosy spaces in busy areas serving specialty coffee, all day brunch and a selection of freshly baked cakes and pastries from local bakeries, blankets, candles and a moment of peace to recharge your batteries. We chose the Danish word “hygge” as part of our name as it conveys all these ideas we’d like to spread: celebrating the everyday, the creation wellbeing, connection and warmth, a feeling of belonging to the moment and to each other."
25% of profits from the day to go to charity
On the day Hygge Pygge will donate 25% of their gross profit to our chosen local charity. There will be a special coffee of the day with amazing coffee art.
Have a look at their instagram friendly space just right next to the Camden Lock Market:
Which charity will the money go to?
Money raised will go to Shelter from the Storm, a free homeless shelter. Located in north London, they operate seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, providing in excess of 13,250 bed, breakfast and overnight accommodation places and they don’t get a penny from the government. They are funded by donations alone and are now looking for a new home.
They say: “After more than six years at our current location in Kings Cross, our lease is now sadly coming to an end. We are looking to lease a new building (or part of) in North London; ideally Islington, Hackney, Camden or Haringey.”
With our Grounds Sessions event, we are hoping to create awareness about their campaign #newhomeforthehomeless and to encourage donations via our Just Giving Page. Read more about Shelter from the Storm here: http://sfts.org.uk/ .
Who is performing?
To help us raise money we have five amazing artists lined up for the day. Between 2pm and 6pm you can enjoy music from:
14.00 Matilda Gracia
14.45 Pearl Fish
15.30 Alex Cambridge
16.15 Concrete Caverns
17.00 Alec Sala
For more info about the event and the performers please visit: https://www.facebook.com/GroundsSessions/
Crowdfunding goals
In order for the project to go ahead we need to raise £165 to make this a really successful event. A breakdown of our events costs is as follows:
Videographer - £100
On the day of the event we will have videographer Max Alford Sancto filming the performances and the surroundings. The video will work as a huge part of our Grounds Sessions marketing plan as it will be used to promote both the artists, the café and our brand. It will be uploaded on YouTube for everyone to share.
Management - £30
Planning an event often means organising meetings in various places. This section of our budget will be used to cover the travel costs for all meetings and food on the day on the event for Wilmer, Caroline and Micah.
Travel Costs - £20
This will cover the travel costs for bringing the music equipment and backdrop from Middlesex University to Hygge Pygge and back again.
Backdrop - £10
We are creating a logo sign on our own which will keep the costs down, however we still need to pay for small things such as brushes, paint and batteries.
Poster - £5
Since this is a charity project we want to keep the costs low so we can raise as much money as possible for Shelter from the Storm. That is why we have chosen to promote this gig via free channels only. However, for the café shop we wanted to create one professional poster that they can put in the window and hopefully save as a piece of art.
Any further money raised through our crowdfunding campaign will go to Shelter from the Storm. We want to raise awareness about the charity and the work that they do and at the same time establish a brand and concept that could possibly help more people in the future.
Thank you so much for visiting our crowdfunding page!
Here is an invite to our event; https://www.facebook.com/events/220165358720683/
We hope to see you on the 24th of March!
