Welsh Government to assist 22 grassroots music venues with funding during coronavirus pandemic

With many independent venues facing an uncertain future due to the ongoing lockdown, the Welsh government has decided to help with funding for 22 venues across the country.

Yesterday (14 May), the government announced that just over £400,000 of their £18million support scheme for the cultural sector will be spread amongst 22 music venues in Wales.

Lord Elis-Thomas, the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism said, "We’ve listened to our many stakeholders and we understand that these are uncertain times for businesses and organisations across Wales and fully recognise the massive and unprecedented challenges coronavirus is having on the fabric of Welsh life. The Welsh Government is committed to doing everything possible to support the resilience, creativity and partnership which is being shown by the sector. "

Some of the music venues across Wales have had to rethink their business during the lockdown in order to still make some money to pay rent and staff. Some have operated by selling their alcohol and food stock to locals, and others have been trying to sell merchandise.

Samantha Dabb, the manager of Newport's Le Pub venue, and the Welsh Coordinator for Music Venue Trust says, "Grassroots music venues are vital to both the wellbeing of our communities and the future of Welsh music. Without them we have no meeting spaces for creative minds, no space to unwind when we are stressed and the people that will stand proudly for Wales on the international stages have nowhere to begin their careers."

Dabb adds, "We cancelled over 50 gigs in the first three months alone. Our workshops and classes are all stopped. After 4 weeks we were able to open up running a hot food and alcohol delivery service but it’s not enough to pay the bills. We miss our regulars and gigs and being able to make people happy. The fund has rescued us and being recognised for the somewhat unique services that we provide was so reassuring when it seemed that we would fall through the safety net. We have diversified the business in recent years introducing new services such as backline hire for events. We are always considering other ways of doing so and will continue to once we are out of this current situation."