Two popular Welsh music venues are to be bought by fans in a move which offers a long term solution to difficulties felt as a result of the pandemic and rising rents. The Music Venue Trust (MVT), which has organised the scheme, says it will promise venues - including Le Pub in Newport and The Bunkhouse in Swansea - a stable footing and an opportunity to offer live grassroots music “forever”.
The pilot scheme - which includes another seven venues in England and Scotland - began this week and has already raised more than £200,000 of the £3.5m target. The aim is that the money raised will allow the venues to effectively be owned by the trust and fans, protecting them from rising rents or threats of closure.
MVT’s Mark Davyd said the scheme had been planned long before the pandemic, but the pressures felt across the industry as a result of Covid had hastened the need to get the scheme started. He called the scheme the “National Trust of music venues”.
