MUSIC Venue Trust has announced the #SaveOurVenues campaign launched three weeks ago has now resulted in 140 grassroots music venues being removed from its ‘critical’ list.

#SaveOurVenues was initiated by the Music Venue Trust in response to the economic threat to over 500 grassroots music venues throughout the UK. As a result of donations from music fans, industry companies and public bodies such as Arts Council England, over £1.5m has been raised which will protect 140 grassroots venues from imminent closure.

The artist community are supporting the campaign with donations and live events and a number of virtual festivals have also taken place or are scheduled, including Independent Music News Lockdown, Vive Le Rockdown, Bristol Takeover Online and Liverpool Digital Music Festival. Over 150 events have already taken place with many more lined up in the coming weeks.

Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust said, “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. 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.”

However, this does not mean that any of these 140 venues are protected permanently and Music Venue Trust are calling for more donations and government intervention to help secure their long-term future.

YOU can find out more and donate to #SaveOurVenues campaign here.