What did the burglars actually take?
Overnight on August 27, 2026, burglars broke into TOLA, the grassroots club and bar in Peckham, South London. In a statement posted to Instagram the next morning, the venue said thieves "got the lot": the entire sound system, every piece of DJ equipment, the till and card readers, and all the stock behind the bar. The break-in also left the building itself damaged. TOLA kept its doors open through that weekend anyway, running a cash-only bar because its payment system was gone.
Nine days later the scale came into focus. DJ Mag reported the total loss, equipment and stock combined, at roughly £30,000.
Why won't insurance cover it?
"Like all small venues and businesses, we've been through a lot over the last few years, but this isn't going to be something we can absorb on our own."
That's co-founder Tom Broadbent. TOLA hasn't detailed which clause in its policy excludes the claim, but the bind is a familiar one for anyone who runs a small club: comprehensive theft cover priced for a full soundsystem and a cash-handling till costs real money, and grassroots venues survive on door take and bar margins too thin to carry that premium. It is exactly the gap that turns a burglary into an existential threat rather than an insured setback, weeks after TOLA had just finished paying for a full refit.
What happens next for TOLA?
The venue has launched a GoFundMe titled "The Dance Must Go On," targeting £50,000 to replace the stolen gear, rent interim equipment so nights can keep running, repair the damage and upgrade security. It had raised more than £7,000 within its first few days. TOLA relaunched in February 2026 with a new club room, a retuned soundsystem and a roof terrace, and has hosted Tim Reaper, Kyle Hall and Heidi since. Keeping that programme going now depends less on an underwriter than on strangers online covering what the policy didn't.
