Music Venue Trust announce 20 music venues still at risk of closure

The Music Venue Trust has announced that 20 venues remain in imminent danger of permanent closure, with six newly highlighted venues added to the #saveourvenues Red List.

The Music Venue Trust is an organisation that represents hundreds of UK grassroots music venues around the United Kingdom. They stated this morning that Pop in Hyde is now deemed to be financially safe, and removed from their Red List. However, they have also stated that six new venues have been added to the list, suggesting that without serious and urgent financial help, they will have to close. They include:

• The Black Heart, Camden
• The Fiddlers Elbow, Camden
• Stage and Radio, Manchester
• Legends Live Lounge, Oldham
• The Cobblestones, Bridgwater
• Y Llew Coch, Machynlleth

“The crisis is nearing its final lap but we need to make sure these venues finish the race. With the support of artists and audiences, we have fought our way through the last 11 months venue by venue, case by case, trying to make sure that we are able to Reopen Every Venue Safely. These 6 newly highlighted venues need urgent help, and we still have 14 venues that were on our original Red list that we can’t yet guarantee will survive to bring live music back to our communities. We are completely determined that they will.” Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust.

In November, the charity launched their ‘Traffic Light’ campaign, which placed venues at a ‘red,’ ‘amber’ or ‘green’ level. Those in the ‘red’ category were deemed to be at a high risk of closure. The Music Venue Trust is aiming to revive live music, and ensure that every music venue is able to reopen when it is safe to do so. At the time, 30 venues were deemed to be at a high, ‘red’ level of risk. Many of the venues have been removed from the list, moving into the ‘amber’ category. Despite this positive news, 14 of the original 30 venues on the list are still at risk. These venues include:

• Alchemy, Croydon
• Beehive Jazz, Kingston upon Hull
• Boom, Leeds
• Dryad Works, Sheffield
• Egg, Kings Cross
• Spiritual Bar, Camden
• The 1865, Southhampton
• The Hot Tin, Faversham
• The Lexington, Islington
• The Post Bar, Tottenham
• The Venue, Derby
• The Waiting Room, Stoke Newington
• The Windmill, Brixton

There are many ways that people can support these venues, primarily by contacting their local MP to call for the support of their local venues, and to purchase items from the Save Our Venues campaign shop. People can also donate directly to the Music Venue Trust crowdfunding campaign.