On the same night that the Black Lion screened the Oscar winning film Undefeated, the pub was broken into and over £1000 worth of spirits were nicked, plus Help For Heroes charity tins and money from the sales of local artists' work.
With an excess of £1000, it's not worth the Black Lion claiming the insurance, so Future Artists, who run the ground breaking pub and arts venue, are hoping Salford's community will rally round and pop in for a pint to help re-build the business and boost staff morale.
"It's just a real shame, we've been building The Black Lion to be a unique place for art, theatre, film and music that's made by people who can't get into big famous venues, and we've always been about being an open place" says Future Artists' Mark Ashmore.
"It's made us angry, if anything" he adds "It feels like we've been taken advantage of. Right now it's difficult for pretty much everyone to just get by in the first place - especially as a new business that's barely been open a year. But it was what they stole which made it so much more enraging. They stole booze, but they also stole money we'd been collecting for artists who put their paintings in the pub. Worse, they stole the Help For Heroes charity boxes from the bar.
"It's always a shame when any pub gets broken into. It's never fair and it means an independent business and worse, that the community around it has been hit. That's definitely the case for us."
For The Black Lion, the show goes on tonight with Davies and Jowett's Comedy Jumble Sale, live stand up and sketches from the award winning company, Blackhand Productions which recently staged the sell out show Slaughter House. It's only £6 and there's an `after show party' with an open mic.
Meanwhile, there's lots of ways to help The Black Lion get back on its paws – everything from buying a bottle of spirits for them to making a replacement donation to Help For Heroes – click here for details.
But the main way anyone can help is by going down to The Black Lion, buying a few drinks, taking in a show or a film and chilling out…
The Black Lion
Chapel Street, Salford M35BZ
Davies and Jowett's Comedy Jumble Sale tonight 11th August 8pm £6
For more details of the event and The Black Lion - click here
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