#SaveOurVenues Saves 13 Music Venues From Closure

The #SaveOurVenues campaign has announced that 13 UK venues have been rescued from critical risk of imminent closure.

Last year, after a number of venues were left in peril after not receiving any or enough money from the government’s £1.57billion Culture Recovery Fund, the Music Venue Trust launched the #SaveThe30 Traffic Light campaign to fight for those still in danger and help them weather the storm of being forced to close due to coronavirus restrictions and lockdown.

Music Venue Trust, the charity which protects, secures and improves the UK’s grassroots music venues launched #saveourvenues to draw together fundraising activity aimed at preventing the permanent closure of these vital venues due to Covid-19.

“There are 556 venues at risk of closure, so this campaign aims to bring together artists who want to help, with the venues they love, and provide an easy way for music fans to financially support the resultant live streams,” said Music Venue Trust.

A total of 13 venues have been removed 13 from the ‘red’ list – saving them from permanent closure until venues can hopefully reopen safely in the spring.

“We want to thank every artist, every audience member, every member of our community for taking direct action which means we are able to remove these 13 venues from the Red List right now,” commented Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd.

“The love shown for these venues continues to demonstrate how important they are to people and to our towns and cities. Music Venue Trust is committed to reopening every venue safely and we are going to carry on working through this crisis until that outcome is achieved.”

The full list of the 13 venues saved are:

Arden Inn, Accrington
Backstage Kinross
Boulevard, Wigan
Four Horsemen, Bournemouth
Gellions, Inverness
Hootenanny, Inverness
Plot 22, Sheffield
Rossi Bar, Brighton
Strange Brew, Bristol
The Brunswick, Hove
The Grand Elektra/ The Crypt, Hastings
The Railway Inn, Winchester
Waterloo Bar, Blackpool

“Being part of the red list #saveourvenues has been great support for the venue and hospitality sector,” added Paul Mandy, owner of the Grand Elektra in Hastings. “It’s brought great publicity to our cause and with the support of the MVT which has been amazing throughout the whole of the pandemic crisis and helped us weather this storm so far.”

“It’s a massive relief to know that The Railway is now in a position to announce we’re no longer one of the most at risk venues in the country,” said Dan Lloyd of the Railway Inn in Winchester.

“The assistance and support that MVT has provided, along with the fantastic dedication of our community means that there’s light at the end of the tunnel, and we can continue to work towards reopening safely.

“However, it’s important to remember that there are now venues being added to that list, so please take the time to support them as much as you’ve supported us. Thank you, again, to all the hard work of the MVT Team, our Railway family and everyone that has supported us over the years.”

Venues that remain on the red list and in critical danger of closing include The Windmill in Brixton, The Venue in Derby, BOOM in Leeds and London’s The Lexington.

During the last eight months, Music Venue Trust and Crowdfunder have worked together to prevent the closure of hundreds of grassroots music venues. With no end to the crisis in sight, they are now refocusing that work to spotlight those venues under the most imminent threat of permanent closure.

The #SaveOurVenues Red List highlights the grassroots music venues at most risk.

“We’ve checked all the available funding, financial support, furlough schemes, business support for these venues, and what is on offer is not enough to prevent them being lost,” reads the #SaveOurVenues Crowdfunder page.

“These grassroots venues play a crucial role in the development of British music, nurturing local talent, providing a platform for artists to build their careers and develop their music and their performance skills. These venues also play a vital role in the cultural and economic vibrancy of any village, town or city.”

The idea behind #saveourvenues is to secure grassroots music venues, one by one.