Venuewatch: Casa

The Casa, the club-cum-venue-cum-community-centre set up by the former Liverpool Dockers, is under threat.

There's a funding crisis - of course there is, this is a socially-valuable service and we have a Tory government - which means the community centre and advice functions of the venue are under threat; while the bar and performance space could continue, they can't support the whole endeavour alone. And, because it's always been more than just a entertainment place, the people who run it think that would be a betrayal of its principles.

So, there's to be a huge benefit gig at the Philharmonic, and a fund-raising push - hopefully raising enough to cover another four years of operations.

Mark Steel, John Bishop, and TV's Bobby Grant are all on board already.