About:
Client: Union Chapel
Date: from May 2020 ‐ ongoing
From Elton John to Amy Winehouse, the Union Chapel in Islington is an internationally renowned music venue which promotes headline and emerging acts. Few people, however, realise that all its profits support the venue's charitable work, including the Margins homelessness project and the conservation of its Gothic building. At the start of the pandemic, Union Chapel, together with a number of local NGOs, became the country's first COVID‐19 Task Force, transforming its iconic performance space into a foodbank and setting up a befriending service. In June 2020, Union Chapel made music history when it hosted the first‐ever live streamed gig by singer/songwriter, Laura Marling, for thousands of paying fans across the UK, Europe and the US.
Project:
tpr media began working with the Union Chapel at the beginning of May 2020 to create and implement a PR strategy aimed at raising awareness of the venue's iconic cultural and social action work and its crowdfunder campaign. Engaging Union Chapel in national conversations about the arts and social justice taking place in the media at this time of crisis and highlighting the importance of their contribution was at the heart of the media strategy. CEO, Michael Chandler, was interviewed on BBC London's Robert Elms show alongside representatives from other major London venues in a wide‐ranging discussion. Everyone was delighted when Union Chapel's crowdfunding campaign reached almost double the initial target of £50K. Laura Marling's groundbreaking live streamed concert generated enormous interest and was covered by dozens of outlets including the Observer, Rolling Stone, ITV news and BBC TravelShow. The concert was also featured on the front cover of music trade magazines IQ and TPi. Many journalists asked: could this be a model for the music industry until it is safe for venues to reopen? Full coverage available here.