George Fleming launched Save Our Scene during the bleakness of the first Covid lockdown, in a bid to give himself a purpose at a time when all the best bits of life stood still.

Furloughed from his dull estate agent job and with little else to do, he channelled his passion for live music into a support initiative - a decision which totally changed his life.

“Save Our Scene started back in 2020 as a basic grassroots campaign, fundraising for musicians who were falling through the gap for getting support during the lockdowns,” he tells us over coffee at Hackney Wick canalside venue No.90.

Their first event was a pop-up on Hackney Downs, followed by some bike ride protests and online fundraising, but things really began to take off when they rigged up a soundsystem on a SOS-branded fire truck at the big Freedom to Dance rally that took over central London a year later.

“We soon got a bit more active, doing demonstrations, becoming a bit noisier, throwing street raves, and basically saying, ‘if you let the clubs close, we'll just take it to the streets’”.

Beyond the jump-up moments, the campaign’s early work included pushing for a VAT cut for the nightlife sector, something that is still very much a live demand today, but really found it’s purpose when SOS teamed up with the Music Venues Trust to push for a levy on the biggest music shows to help save the UK’s numerous threatened small venues, and in turn protect the culture that is forged within them.

“The Lifeline Fund is a new national programme we’ve set up to help reignite the UK touring circuit,” George beams, “de-risking shows for venues and promoters through a guarantorship model, where if you make a profit, you keep that, but if you lose money, we will cover up to 80% of your losses. And that's a UK‑wide national programme that we're launching at the moment, which is sort of our big focus.”

It helps create a way for grassroots venues and promoters to continue to put on shows and experiment with new artists and sounds during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis without one bad night wiping them out.

While outright venue closures have thankfully slowed since the post-Covid fallout, with assistance from tie-ins that Save Our Scene have orchestrated with the likes of Coldplay, with a £1 levy on all tickets to their huge run at Wembley last year, the scale of the problem remains immense.

“What is really scary is that last year, 53% of venues reported not making a profit. So you've got over half of these grassroots spaces not breaking even. A lot of the operators aren't even paying themselves a salary. They're working other jobs to help prop up the venue, and you simply can't do that forever.”

What began six years ago as an unfunded, one-man campaign has grown into a small, focused team – still proudly independent, but now with the means to deliver real support through its partnerships.

They’ve recently moved in to the workspace community at Main Yard, expanded the team, and have a very busy summer calendar in train right now.

“Most of what we're doing at the moment is focusing on outside of London, where there are towns - even cities - which have lost complete access to live music,” laments George. And while Hackney Wick’s nightlife is still in comparatively rude health, basing SOS in the area presents a symbolic and practical base for their work.

The neighbourhood is a place where the various pressures on music venues are all acutely felt, and the pace of developmental change presents huge uncertainty, which is why The Wick has launched our ongoing Nightlife Campaign.

George first fell in love with the area during those long and confused social distancing lockdown months, too. Riding his bike along the canal in search of little events and gatherings.

“It kind of kept me sane,” he reveals. “I grew to think that this is one of the last places in East London which still feels like it’s raw, where it’s easy to meet all these different characters, so we jumped at the opportunity to be based here.”

Another recent success was helping on the campaign to save Hackney’s nearby MOTH Club, where the ‘Agent of Change’ principle - that noise complains against historic venues should not impact their operational licence - were flexed, despite not being as powerful an campaigners would like, yet.

Ultimately though, as long as there’s momentum towards a growing, thriving circuit of venues that aren’t constantly being moved on or priced out, George will feel his mission is delivering.

“We're not obsessed with any particular four walls,” he says. “We're obsessed with there being plenty of spaces which give artists places to go out and perform, and the fans to come together and have a good time. That's what's important.”

Follow Save Our Scene on Insta to find out about their events and campaigns.