Music Venue Trust ‘Own Our Venues’ scheme close to £2.5million target
The Music Venue Trust initiative ‘Own Our Venues’ is closing in on its fundraising target of £2.5million. The project, which launched in May 2022, aims to secure the long-term futures of grassroots venues by purchasing their freeholds to make them community owned. It is based on the ‘Community Share’ model that is used to protect pubs, sports grounds and post offices.
The Music Venue Trust have revealed that they have raised £1.8million of the money, setting a deadline of March 30th to secure the remaining funds needed to bring venues into the public domain. As for the purchasing, this will begin in April.
For the first phase of the project, nine venues have been earmarked. Other venue freeholds are to be identified for acquisition whenever they become available in future. After being bought, venues will immediately be offered a rent reduction and help with maintenance and insurance issues.
Mark Davyd, CEO and Founder of Music Venues Trust, explained: “We know that changing the ownership model of grassroots music venues is the single most important change we can make to this sector. The best people to Own Our Venues are the people who love them, need them and use them.”
He continued: “We want to see everyone who has a stake in the future of these venues become a direct financial stakeholder in that future; local communities, artists, audiences, the music industry. The success of these venues is vital to the future of live music for all of us. This isn’t a time to sit on the sidelines hoping someone else will do this for us, it’s down to us to make it happen.”
Since June, hundreds of companies and individuals have supported the scheme through direct investment and the Crowdfunder campaign. Ed Sheeran is one of the most prominent artists to voice his support for ‘Own Our Venues’. He said: “Small, independent venues are so, so important to the music community, and I’ve played some of my favourite gigs of my career in these rooms. We’ve got to do all we can to protect these beautiful venues that we’ve all come to love for years to come”.
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