Christmas gifting campaign launched to help venues

The independent Charitable Community Benefit Society created by the Music Venue Trust to buy the freeholds of at-risk UK grassroots music venues (GMV) has announced a new festive campaign.

The Music Venue Properties’ (MVP) ‘Give The Gift of Ownership’ initiative encourages music fans to gift shares in the scheme to friends and family this Christmas.

“By supporting the ‘Give The Gift of Ownership’ campaign music fans will provide much needed resources for Music Venue Properties to acquire the freehold of more at-risk grassroots music venues,” says MVP director Chris Prosser.

“With 16% of the UK’s grassroots music venues having closed in the last 12 months at a rate of two per week, this initiative serves as a timely reminder that these are more than just spaces; they are cultural landmarks that have witnessed the rise of legendary bands and the birth of countless musical memories, while also acting as platforms for emerging artists to hone their craft and connect with fans.”

Last month, The Snug (cap. 100) in Atherton, Greater Manchester, became the first GMV to be bought by Music Venue Properties (MVP_, which has already identified nine potential grassroots music venue acquisitions throughout the UK.

“Giving the gift of ownership to friends and family this Christmas supports not only music but strengthens the communities these venues are a part of”

To date almost £2.5 million (€2.9m) has been raised from over 1,200 individual investors and the MVP crowdfunding platform Own Our Venues has now re-opened for further share sales to support the campaign.

Anyone can gift a share under the ‘Give The Gift of Ownership’ initiative here, with a minimum investment of £100 and no upper limit on donations. The recipients of shares automatically become a member and co-owner of the Charitable Community Benefit Society and its assets and will receive a guaranteed 3% APR return on their investment.

When gifting, purchasers simply select ‘This investment is a gift’ and enter the name and address of the recipient in the ‘Registered Address’ section when they checkout.

“Giving the gift of ownership to friends and family this Christmas supports not only music but strengthens the communities these venues are a part of, while proving that the public can and should take ownership of the cultural scenes they build,” adds Prosser.

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100-mile bike ride to raise funds for Music Venue Trust

Chris Prosser of Music Venue Trust (MVT) and Gary Prosser of Fightback will be cycling 100 miles for charity to raise funds for MVT, they have announced.

For their birthday, the twins are looking to highlight the plight of grassroots music venues and raise funds to help the organisation.

Taking part on 6 September, the 100-mile ride will see them join their family in Westbury on the finishing line.

“ITB has already donated generously to the cause and we are hoping the industry will follow suit,” they say.

Anyone who donates will be mentioned on a special section of the MVT website.

If you would like to donate, please visit bit.ly/MVT_BIKE_RIDE.

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