It Started With Loading Amps Into a Car: Totnes Youth Music Hub Jamming Station Launches £50,000 Save-Us Fundraiser

Back in 2012, musicians Jacqui Perks, Beth Coombes, and Lee Friese-Greene started loading amps into a car every week, for one simple reason — their kids had nowhere in Totnes to play music. Over a decade later, what began out of a car boot now needs a £50,000 fundraiser just to keep going.

The venue, called Town Mill and located in Totnes, Devon, UK, serves as Jamming Station's base. According to an official press release, it's "part youth club, part rehearsal space, part training ground for the music industry." This round of fundraising will go toward fire safety works, a new PA and lighting system, and soundproofing; if more funds are raised, it will expand into a full youth venue complete with a sensory-friendly space, an employment café, and vocational training facilities.

Jacqui Perks, co-director of Jamming Station, said: "For a lot of young people, this is the place where they finally find their people. They walk in carrying the pressure of school and step into an environment where they can relax among other young musicians — somewhere they're seen, understood, and accepted." She added, "In a band, everyone has their role. You have to listen to each other, and keep going even when something goes wrong somewhere. Those are musical skills, but they're also life skills."

Izzi Warburton, who trained at Jamming Station and is now a professional musician and producer who's toured with Primal Scream and Kula Shaker, said: "I'm so grateful for everything Jamming Station gave me as an artist and producer. Since leaving around age 18, I've been lucky enough to tour the world and work in studios all across the UK." He also said: "It's really important for young people to have a place where they can put down their phones, actually connect with each other, and get lost in creating something. Making music is deeply educational in itself, and I genuinely hope people will support this fundraiser so Jamming Station can give more young people the same chance I once had."

This fundraiser comes against a backdrop of continued shrinkage in the UK's grassroots music venue scene. According to a recent Music Venue Trust report, 30 grassroots music venues closed permanently between July 2024 and July 2025, with another 48 no longer operating as performance spaces. Surviving venues averaged a profit margin of just 2.5%, with 53.8% turning zero profit over the past 12 months, and the sector lost over 6,000 jobs overall — a drop of 19%.

Donation details and fundraising progress can be found on Jamming Station's official page; amounts and how the funds will be used are subject to official announcements.