{"id":2165626,"date":"2026-09-26T19:03:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T16:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2165626"},"modified":"2026-09-26T19:03:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T16:03:52","slug":"groundswell-of-support-sees-bury-st-edmunds-venue-reopen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2165626","title":{"rendered":"Groundswell of support sees Bury St Edmunds’ venue reopen"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/df0a\/live\/ab7b6450-b9d1-11f1-b9a2-c51fbcac2d8e.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"SamSam Read\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Musician Josh Read says the arts centre has been a “lifeline” to emerging bands<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A groundswell of local support has led to a music venue reopening, its owner has said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There were fears in March that the Hunter Club in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, could close down after its long-time manager left.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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However, there was an outcry from musicians and after almost four months, the grassroots music centre reopened in August – and it has been hosting a weekend of live performances to mark its comeback.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lucy Allen, a member of the Hunter family who own the club, said: “The local music community stepped up and said, ‘this is really important and we want to help you get the club back on its feet’.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SamSam Read\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Lucy Allen said the centre had been revived with help from the Music Venue Trust<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Allen, the centre’s joint manager, added that locals wanted to “turn it back into something which is really needed in Bury St Edmunds”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We’ve been working with lots of wonderful people, and it’s a really strong grassroots music space and we’re also trying to do that for the arts as well, so… visual arts theatre, language, dance.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The venue, in St Andrew’s Street South, has provided a platform for bands and performers to showcase their music since 2009.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Concerns were raised over the future of the Hunter Club in Bury St Edmunds earlier this year<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The centre underwent months of refurbishment, and its reopening has been welcomed by a string of local musicians who have been taking to its various stages at this weekend’s Roomsfest event.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Josh Read, 24, from Suffolk band Decoupage, said: “Venues like this, and the rehearsal space connected to it, are vital as it’s how bands get started and they eventually progress to playing bigger places.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“These promoters give them a chance while they’re still cutting their teeth and learning their craft – without places like this there would be no live music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“The prospect of this place was soul crushing… it’s a lifeline for young bands starting up.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SamSam Read\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Musician Sybbie Hoggar said the revival of the club was important as it provided her with a place to play in bands and have fun with friends<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Fellow musician Sybbie Hoggar, 18, from thrash metal outfit Hello Kitty Funland, said: “It’s important that we have places to go that aren’t school or home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“People value community a lot and it’s really important that there’s a space for that to happen.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Follow Suffolk news on <\/i>BBC Sounds<\/i>, <\/i>Facebook<\/i>, <\/i>Instagram<\/i> and <\/i>X<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cwdr7727vx4ko”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/df0a\/live\/ab7b6450-b9d1-11f1-b9a2-c51fbcac2d8e.jpg”] Sam Read\/BBC Musician Josh Read says the arts centre has been a “lifeline” to emerging bands A groundswell of local support has led to a music venue reopening, its owner has said. There were fears in March that the Hunter Club in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, could close down after its long-time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2165626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2165626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2165626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2165626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2165626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2165626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2165626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}