140 UK grassroots music venues saved from "immediate threat of closure"

Three weeks ago Music Venue Trust launched the #saveourvenues campaign in the hopes of raising money to try and avoid the closure of 556 grassroots venues around the UK at risk following the coronavirus pandemic.

The campaign has raised over £1million over the past three weeks, and hopes to reach £1.5million before the campaign is finished.

As NME reports, Music Venue Trust have announced that 140 grassroots music venues around the country have been saved from imminent closure.

Mark Davyd, founder and CEO of Music Venue Trust says, "The fact we have managed to remove 140 grassroots music venues off of our critical list in the last three weeks is, of course, a cause for celebration but we are not complacent as this is only a relatively short-term fix. Whilst the immediate threat of closure for these venues has been halted they are still under real threat in the coming months as are over 400 others."

He adds, "This is a good start and we can’t emphasise how grateful we are to those music fans, music industry companies and public organisations who have supported the #saveourvenues campaign so far, but we cannot relax as we still have a mountain to climb to secure the long-term future of this sector. We still desperately need more music industry companies to step up and help with donations alongside real action from government specifically around rent relief, more financial help and clearer guidance."