Dubrek Studios Flood Fund

Over the last 12 months, Jay Dean and his partner Vicky Del-Greco have spent all their waking hours ripping out walls, building new ones, wiring, painting,
decorating, soundproofing (etc etc..) an empty property on Becket Street in Derby. All of this work has been undertaken with amazing dedication in order to open up the next incarnation of Dubrek Studios - a rehearsal room, recording studio and venue/cafe. This has been a project filled with passion, hard work and many, many 15-20 hour days. An opening night celebration was due to take place in September.

Unfortunately, on 20th August heavy flooding took place at the studio caused by torrential rain leaking through the lower floor's roof - resulting in thousands of pounds worth of damage. This flooding was the result of repair work being carried out on the roof by external contractors who neglected to properly secure the roof when they vacated for the weekend.

Thankfully a few awesome, lovely people were on hand at the time to quickly move a lot of band equipment out of the way, but there has still been substantial property damage. This means that rehearsal rooms and a large portion of the building are completely out of action at present, and will need signficant repair work before they can be used again. 

Some of the areas which are damaged beyond repair are listed here:

Wooden flooring
Carpets & underlay
Lino flooring
Wooden sub-floor structures
Skirting boards
Electrical wiring
Plasterboard walls
Acoustic treatment
Sofas and other furniture

This is a devastating blow for Jay and Vicky, who have poured all their time, money and effort into something that has been of great benefit to a large part of the Derby music & arts community for a long time. Jay himself has been at this since 2002, when the very first Dubrek opened, and it's all been building up to the work that has brought us this new studio. A lot of bands in Derby - not to mention scores of others from across the UK - have at one time or another either recorded at Dubrek or used the rehearsal rooms, and a whole heap of us wouldn't have been able to do the things that we love without Dubrek and everything they've accomplished over the years.

While an insurance claim against the roofing contractors may eventually cover some of the work that needs to be done, the studio lives and dies by the people that use it. And currently, they can't. Any insurance claim is likely to take a lot of time, and there is no certainty around what kind of settlement will eventually be reached, if at all. 

We have started this page on behalf of Jay & Vicky to help them make the essential repairs needed to keep the studio running - before it's too late. Any money raised will help pay for replacing damaged flooring, laying new carpets and underlay, replacing ruined furniture, electrical work, painting, plastering and decorating, amongst many other things that will need to be done in order to get the studio back up to speed and open again. If we're lucky enough to raise more than the target, it will all be ploughed into further improvements to the facilities. 

Jay & Vicky feel extremely uncomfortable asking for financial assistance, which is why we're asking on their behalf. Dubrek is something that has been vital to the community in Derby, and has benefited so many people for nearly 15 years. Now we're hoping that we can do a little something to help keep the place going for many more years to come, so bands can continue to come to Dubrek Studios to record, rehearse and make noise.