Victoria Mier, owner of The Tree House Bookshop, Kenilworth, has been spending her time during the lockdown raising money for musicians who have been directly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Under normal circumstances, The Tree House Bookshop would be hosting at least one or two live monthly music performances inside their shop.

However, regrettably, but understandably, as lockdown measures began in the spring, Victoria was forced to cancel the gigs that she had booked in March, April, and May. Then as the global situation continued to worsen, further dates in June, and July also had to be postponed.

In all, thirteen artists who were due to perform at the Kenilworth venue, lost the chance to play their music live as well as the income from that gig.

Clearly, however, this is a much bigger issue than the loss of one performance.

Victoria said "They really lost everything overnight, and we still don't know when gigs will be possible again.

"Their way of life has been stripped away, and there is no sign yet of that coming back."

Whilst the musicians she has been working with come from far and wide, one of those affected was local folk artist Wes Finch, who is currently based in Coventry.

How can you help?

To help out these thirteen performers, Victoria has been running an online funding campaign.

Using the website Ko-Fi, she has been encouraging local people to 'buy a coffee' for these musicians. When you 'buy a coffee' you are making a cash donation to the cause, of at least £5.

When asked why she chose this site, Victoria said "somehow I thought it's a nice idea to be buying a virtual coffee for somebody, rather than just making a normal donation."

This is perhaps key to Victoria's motivation to be fundraising – buying someone a coffee seems more personal and more a sign of care than anything else.

She is keen to stress that this is mainly just a gesture, but "its enough that they feel someone is thinking of them."

Each of the thirteen artists will receive £100 from the money raised to replace what they missed out from the gigs that were cancelled.

One artist is still waiting, as the fundraising continues.

Victoria said that when she has transferred the donations "they seemed to be pleased, and it meant a lot that people were just wanting to help them."

Why the arts need help during lockdown

The arts remain one of the few industries that has not managed to salvage some form of normality since the lockdown measures were lifted.

For obvious reasons, the chances of live performances remain few and far between, and in truth this is likely to remain the situation for some time to come.

Victoria also hopes that her fundraising will help put this issue in peoples' minds, "I'm just not sure that people are aware of how neglected these people have actually been."

With this in mind, once the thirteenth artist receives their donation, she intends to continue with the fundraising.

Having reopened just over four weeks ago, the shop is now selling facemasks, with some of the proceeds going to the cause.

They are also looking into some new ideas for how The Tree House Bookshop can really help to champion people in the performing arts, working with the new restrictions.

If you would like to support these musicians, you can 'buy a coffee' here.

For more information on The Tree House Bookshop, please visit their website.