Since it's opening in 2002 The Tin Angel remains an integral part of Coventry's cultural fabric and has been host to a wide variety of artists and musicians from around the world. The primary aim of owner and promoter Richard Guy was to enable the people of Coventry to experience high-quality, diverse performances from artists that were rarely found in this area as well as to provide a platform for local, up and coming performers upon which to showcase their music to a wider audience.

The success of this, combined with people's enthusiasm and limited space in the Tin Angel, prompted expansion and so, in April 2006, Taylor John's House; a dedicated music venue with a capacity of 200, opened. This enabled Richard and other local promoters to move forward in terms of the kinds of artists it was possible to present resulting in appearances from internationally touring artists keen to include shows in Coventry in their schedule ranging from cutting edge songwriters to established names in Jazz and world music. The venue is also used as rehearsal space and is a fully functioning recording studio where successful bands have chosen to record their albums.

Taylor Johns House has also been used by University students for filming, performance and final collaborative projects. As well being one of the West Midlands venues for the International Independent Cinema Network "Future Shorts" it is also used to host Coventry's only club night for adults with learning difficulties in the form of the D-Vine disco.

Taylor Johns is visited by approx 300 people per week and the website receives, on average, 50, 000 hits per month. We send weekly gig listings out to our e-mail list and feature in the Uk's best selling music magazines such as NME, Q, fRoots and The Word).

In addition to all of this is Taylor Johns House is now the base for Tin Angel Records; a label that has released albums by such names as Devon Sproule, Paul Currerri and Adrian Crowley.

However, the loss of our entertainment licence at the Tin Angel in the summer has brought the situation to the brink of failure for both venues. The financial problem is that the operation is currently structured as a business and, as such, can't access the many funding sources available to support such community/arts/education endeavours. We are now looking to take the next step in our development by becoming a non-profit organisation so that we can continue to expand on our success in providing the local community with a cultural focus and a creative space.

We need to raise sufficient money to keep the show on the road until we can restructure the operation to become a not-for-profit enterprise. We have committee of dedicated people who will support the change over but need finance to make those changes.

By becoming a funded arts-centre we can:


-Continue to bring internationally recognised artists to Coventry therefore bolstering the city's profile in terms of entertainment and the arts

-Encourage more people from elsewhere to visit Coventry and leave with a positive impression the city

-Create a vibrant, creative hub in which artists from a wide variety of artistic disciplines can work and develop

Allow the local community to become involved in the cultural and creative development of the city as a whole

-Allow Taylor John's and ultimately Coventry's name to be synonymous with high standards in terms of entertainment and diverse cultural activity

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is fundamental to the progress of any community based arts centre and is essential in our move to being a non-profit organisation as it will allow us to present even more high profile events therefore enabling us to prospect for further funding to support our long-term plan for expansion.

If you are interested in making a donation, becoming a personal or corporate sponsor or just finding out more about The Tin Angel or Taylor John House then please contact us. savethetin@yahoo.co.uk or 024 7655 9010