Candid Arts Centre, which has room for 25 artists’ studios, has been used by stars such as Madonna and Idris Elba to shoot videos

ONE of the biggest arts centres in London has made an emergency appeal for funds as it faces bankruptcy amid the coronavirus crisis.

The Candid Arts Centre in Angel has been giving emerging artists a platform to exhibit their work for more than three decades, but the impact of Covid-19 has decimated its funds.

The huge three-storey space in Torrents Street has room for 25 artists’ studios, a café, a rehearsal space and a film screening room. The building has been used by stars such as Madonna, the Gorillaz and Idris Elba to shoot videos.

But the size of the space has been one of its downfalls during the pandemic as the huge rents the Candid Arts Trust must pay have put the place at risk.

While charities tend to either pay just 20 per cent of their rates or have it completely wiped by the council, grants from the Government are still based on business rates, which means places such as Candid, a large building in an expensive part of London, do not meet the criteria.

The trust are now aiming to raise £60,000 in a bid to plug this gap as the Government’s lockdown looks set to continue.

Duncan Barlow, one of the founding members of the centre which opened in 1989, told the Tribune: “If we don’t meet our obligations we could be evicted. So that is a scary prospect. Thirty years is a lot of time and it will be a sad thing if we have to close.

“It is a very rare resource that exists. You don’t get places like Candid generally. Three floors of gallery space, we do open call exhibitions all the time. Anybody who wants to put on a play or a performance, we can then help them with joint ventures which takes on a lot of the costs.

“That just doesn’t exist anywhere else. For that resource to go just like that would be very sad.”

Mr Barlow added: “One of the anomalies we have is that we do not fall into the category to get the Government’s grants as our rateable value is too large.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak outlined a raft of emergency measures to try to prop up the economy as small businesses around the country have been devastated by the coronavirus outbreak and ensuing lockdown.

These measures include a holiday on VAT payments, scrapping business rates for some, providing grants and offering to pay 80 per cent of the wages bill for staff who have to be furloughed during the lockdown up to £2,500 per month per employee.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak

But many businesses and charities are struggling to access this money quickly enough and a study last week found that if the Government did not find a way to get cash to struggling enterprises soon then around a million small businesses could go bust in the next three months.

The Government has also tried to encourage banks to provide loans to businesses by saying it would guarantee 80 per cent each loan.

But, as the Tribune previously reported, many businesses have been infuriated to find that banks are asking for personal guarantees and have ramped up the interest rates that would kick in after the first free year.

Mr Barlow said: “We have had to look at loans and this is obviously not desirable and, in fact, almost impossible. Trying to get through to a bank is impossible.”

On the Candid crowdfunding page, it says: “Candid is the largest space of its kind in Islington, London and has huge running costs. In normal times we would welcome several thousand people a week through our doors to enjoy our varied activities. But since its closure, due to Government restrictions, visitors are now down to zero along with the associated income. The 50-plus creative practitioners who occupy the 25 studios are having similar problems in sustaining their independent businesses.”

The centre plays a vital role for students as graduates from several colleges and arts schools are given space every year to exhibit their work.

Events hosted in the centre also include the Angel Christmas Fair.

• To donate to the crowdfunder go to www.crowdfunder.co.uk/support-candid-arts-trust