Ed Sheeran pledges support for Music Venue Trust's Own Our Venues campaign

Music Venue Trust's Own Our Venues campaign was announced back in May, and today (26 September) Ed Sheeran has pledged his support for the initiative which aims to help the issue of ownership with grassroots music venues across the UK.

Sheeran said, "Own Our Venues is an initiative I’m really passionate about getting behind. 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."

Music Venue Trust's CEO Mark Davyd added, "We are blown away by the support already for Own Our Venues. This is campaign that is really resonating with music fans who understand exactly how important it is to keep access to live music in our communities, our towns and cities right across the UK. With the Own Our Venues project gathering steam, we are incredibly pleased to get Ed’s support for this initiative – he knows this sector incredibly well and understands how important it is."

ANNOUNCEMENT @edsheeran has thrown his weight behind the #OwnOurVenues campaign by Music Venue Trust to make a radical intervention into the ownership of the UK’s Grassroots Music Venues.

Find out more about #OwnOurVenues Now:https://t.co/3qJQ9BSt9I pic.twitter.com/f6bv7hH3C7

— Music Venue Trust (@musicvenuetrust) September 26, 2022

The Own Our Venues campaign is being led by Music Venue Trust's Music Venue Properties, "a Community Benefit Society that purchases freeholds of UK Grassroots Music Venues and rents them back to the operators at a fairer rate than their present landlords, with greater security and better understanding of the sector - to make them more valued and to help them grow."

Currently, the Own Our Venues Crowdfunder has raised over £350,000 of its £2.5 million target. According to the description, Music Venue Properties aims to raise "£3.5M to buy the freeholds for nine UK Grassroots Music Venues. And after that, we're going to keep reinvesting - to buy, own and protect as many venues as we can."