The first recipients have been announced of the Music Venue Trust’s major new funding initiative, which provides grants for UK grassroots music venues.

The Pipeline Investment Fund was established with the support of members of the Music Venues Alliance and was primarily funded by donations from ticket sales of MVT’s recent Revive Live programme of gigs around the UK in partnership with The National Lottery.

Grant applications for up to £5,000 were invited from UK-based grassroots music venues to support small scale capital projects, including lights, sound, access, ventilation and minor building alterations, as well as staff and training; workforce diversification, succession planning, skills development and strengthening local community ties.

A total of £40,000 was distributed to 11 venues: Alexander’s Live (Chester), Venue38 (Ayr), The Louisiana (Bristol), The Grayston Unity (Halifax), Retro (Manchester), Chats Palace (London), Backstage At The Green (Kinross), Dorothy Pax (Sheffield), Servant Jazz Quarters (London), Snug (Atherton) and Three Wise Monkeys (Colchester).

“WE’D LIKE TO SEE EVERY STADIUM AND ARENA SHOW IN THE COUNTRY MAKING A SMALL CONTRIBUTION TO THIS FUND”

“The Pipeline Investment Fund is proof of what a huge difference relatively small amounts of money can make to local Grassroots Music Venues,” says Mark Dayvd, MVT founder and CEO. “Music Venue Trust is investing this money directly into facilities for artists and for local music communities improving venues for everyone.

“We’d like to see every stadium and arena show in the country making a small contribution to this fund. Every headline artist should be able to know with confidence that when they reach the top of our industry the impact of their success ripples back to directly support the venues and communities where the launched their career. MVT has created the mechanism to make that possible, we need the music industry to come together and make it happen.”

The fund prioritised support for organisations who may have been excluded from other available funding and was open to all venue operators and organisations that meet any of the three definitions of a grassroots music space.

The MVT is actively seeking further donations, particularly from the wider music industry, to maintain and expand the fund and make it a permanent source of support for grassroots music venues. Contact ozlem@musicvenuetrust.com for details of how this work can be supported.

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