YolanDa Brown and T Oyelola

A NEW crowdfunded music venue and restaurant aims to support young people in “finding their first feet” in the music industry.

Soul Mama is set to open in Islington Square near Angel this autumn, after breaking the world record on Kickstarter for the most money raised for a restaurant.

Led by musician and BBC Radio 2 presenter YolanDa Brown, and music manager and entrepreneur, Adetokunbo “T” Oyelola, they are eager to make it a “community space”.

YolanDa’s passion for young people and community initiatives means she has started a charity, the Soul Mama Foundation, where, she said, “young people can have experience in the music industry, be it from sound to lighting, putting on an event, culinary hospitality”.

She also hopes it can be a great place for artists to “find their first feet” in the industry, as the venue will feature performances from emerging artists as well as established artists, for what YolanDa described as a “great evening of music”.

Being a black woman in a space where black-owned female businesses are underfunded, YolanDa said she wanted to create more diversity in venue ownership.

She said: “You have a dream, you believe in it… instead of thinking ‘oh gosh there isn’t diversity, nothing like this exists’, that is the catalyst to go on and do it.”

YolanDa said she wanted to “allow the people that will be coming to the restaurant and live music venue anyway to be part of it, and the support has been absolutely amazing”.

A founders’ wall at the front of the venue will feature the names of the crowd-funder contributors.

The motto of the enterprise is “feed your soul”, which YolanDa says “embodies everything we want the place to be”.

The kitchen will serve a fusion of African, Caribbean and Brazilian food, with an additional pop-up kitchen to support other cuisines.

YolanDa, who has spent many years visiting Islington, said she has fond memories of life in the area.

“You’ve got the Islington Academy nearby, you’ve got the Almeida Theatre, you’ve got so many things around about culture so I feel that we will be right at home,” she said.