Renowned music venue The Forum in Tunbridge Wells is to launch a new clothing range in a bid to survive until next year.

The venue released a statement on social media yesterday, announcing it would not be opening as normal for the rest of the year, and that they were rescheduling shows for 2021.

"We are so sorry to do this but it's completely out of our hands," the statement added. "This does mean that there is no money coming into the Forum for the duration of that time and so to see this through for the rest of the year, we will be releasing a winter range of clothing in our merch store and will all go live this Saturday at 10am.

"Most items will be in limited stock but they have all been made and will be ready to ship straight away.

"We have applied for funding from the arts council but with thousands of venues, theatres, galleries and more applying for the same money, we are really uncertain if this is something we will receive.

"Our Forum community has been vital to the continuation of our cherished venue and we want to thank you for all your support so far.

"Anything you can pick up from this weekend will be a huge support to us."

The campaign has received the backing of musicians including Slaves front man Isaac Holman, who is from nearby Southborough.

A crowdfunder has to date raised more than £17,000 of a £20,000 target with £10,000 of that coming from an anonymous donation earlier this month.

Visit www.twforum.co.uk or search for Tunbridge Wells Forum on Facebook to keep up to date with the venue.

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