The Last Safe Space a straight-talking, data-driven podcast from Music Venue Trust. Each episode breaks down the biggest news affecting the UK’s grassroots music venues – from government policy to local wins, campaigns, crisis cases, and how you can take action to support live music.
In this episode: Arusa Qureshi hosts a panel discussion at EXIT Club in Glasgow, co-produced with Glasgow Life, NTIA Scotland, and the Association for Electronic Music. Together, they explore the heartbeat of Scottish nightlife – its unique culture, challenges, and the collective action needed to ensure a thriving future for live music across Scotland.
Disclaimer: All data is correct on the date of filming 16/10/2025
Sam Fender has donated his £25,000 cash prize to the Music Venue Trust.
Fender said: “I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing today if it wasn’t for all the gigs I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out,” he said. “These venues are legendary, but they are struggling.”
Mark Davyd, CEO and founder of the MVT, said: “This is an incredible gesture by Sam, demonstrating once again that artists absolutely understand how vital grassroots music venues are to their careers and to their communities. We are honoured to accept this donation and will ensure every penny of it makes a direct difference to the campaign to keep live music at the heart of our towns and cities.”
Instagram post from Andy Crowley discussing Johnny Marr, Grassroots Venues and the MVT with Janelle from GENN. Plus a longer YouTube video showing Janelle teaching guitar with a violin bow!
The Last Safe Space a straight-talking, data-driven podcast from Music Venue Trust. Each episode breaks down the biggest news affecting the UK’s grassroots music venues – from government policy to local wins, campaigns, crisis cases, and how you can take action to support live music.
In this episode: Toni speaks with Chris Sherrington from Music Venue Properties about the Own Our Venues campaign, exploring how community ownership is protecting grassroots venues, the impact so far, and what the future holds for the movement.
Disclaimer: All data is correct on the date of filming 16/10/2025
Music Venue Properties are thrilled to share the news that both The Joiners in Southampton and The Croft in Bristol have now been purchased and brought into community ownership, thanks to their supporters.
These venues were among the very first to join the potential new pipeline after the first share offer, with the venues getting in touch well before they had even started to plan this campaign. The threats they were facing meant they had to act fast.
The press release from MVP doesn’t say what is going to happen to the other venues on this second campaign:
Esquires – Bedford
Peggy’s Skylight – Nottingham
The Pipeline – Brighton
The Sugarmill – Stoke-on-Trent
Northern Guitars – Leeds
Gut Level – Sheffield
Little Buildings – Newcastle
If you want to invest some of your own cash into supporting venues such as this, for as little as £100 then go to the Crowdfunder page HERE.
Marshall has partnered with the Music Venue Trust to support grassroots music venues
‘Marshall Nights’, will feature emerging artists at a series of gigs at various independent venues, such as Green Door Store in Brighton.
“Grassroots Music Venues are the lifeblood of the UK’s music ecosystem, they are where artists take their first steps, and where fans fall in love with live music. We’re proud to partner with Marshall, a brand that embodies the sound and spirit of live performance, to keep these vital spaces alive.”
“Marshall was born from the live stage, and that’s where we belong. Grassroots venues are where every great band starts, and we’re proud to help keep those stages alive for the next generation of artists and fans. This isn’t just about sound, it’s about community, creativity, and giving back to the music that made us.”
The Last Safe Space a straight-talking, data-driven podcast from Music Venue Trust. Each episode breaks down the biggest news affecting the UK’s grassroots music venues – from government policy to local wins, campaigns, crisis cases, and how you can take action to support live music.
In this episode: Toni speaks with Lloyd and Jay about the latest trends, challenges, and breakthroughs shaping grassroots venues across England – from rising costs to local government support and policy innovation.
Disclaimer: All data is correct on the date of filming 16/10/2025
To ensure support reaches the right places quickly, the fund will be administered by Music Venue Trust, the UK charity championing grassroots spaces. They’ll use their tried-and-tested systems to distribute grants of up to £20,000 or 35% of a venue’s business rates bill.
Quite apposite this post as I endured a 90 minute delay at Brighton station last Sunday. I’m always on the lookout to check if the train I was planning to get has been cancelled because of “Trespassers on the line”, “Points failure at Victoria” or “Staff Shortage”. It’s £60 to get a taxi home if it all goes wrong!
A transport policy built for commuters not communities. Yet another factor crippling live music.
Night Boat to Cairo by Mark Davyd
A transport policy built for commuters not communities. Yet another factor crippling live music.
The Last Safe Space a straight-talking, data-driven podcast from Music Venue Trust. Each episode breaks down the biggest news affecting the UK’s grassroots music venues – from government policy to local wins, campaigns, crisis cases, and how you can take action to support live music.
In this episode: Toni and Sophie unpack the government’s new consultation on licensing reform and what it means for grassroots music venues. They also cover this week’s crisis cases, community wins, and sector updates – from The Boileroom’s nineteenth anniversary to The Ferret’s expansion and the rise of the Grassroots Levy.
Disclaimer: All data is correct on the date of filming 16/10/2025
The top end of live music has never been more economically successful and one of the biggest winners in that success is the government itself. The grassroots are providing access, community and culture at prices that haven’t budged in twenty years. The Government is sitting on a huge tax windfall
In January 2026 the LIVE Trust will start to award grants to Grassroots Music Venues. This is the money they have received from the voluntary £1 Grassroots levy on arena and Stadium tickets.
In December 2025 grant applications will open. If you are working for a Grassroots Music venue you need to read the document below and work out if you are eligible and what you propose to do with a grant if it awarded.
The Last Safe Space a straight-talking, data-driven podcast from Music Venue Trust. Each episode breaks down the biggest news affecting the UK’s grassroots music venues – from government policy to local wins, campaigns, crisis cases, and how you can take action to support live music.
In this episode: This week on The Last Safe Space, Toni and Mark unpack the latest from Westminster and beyond. The House of Lords debates the Agent of Change amendment, the Government stalls on Business Rates reform, and MVT outlines a bold new investment approach: don’t just fund problems—fix them. Plus, community victories from The Sound Lounge and The George Tavern, new partnerships with Fred Perry and Yamaha, and a hard look at rights management and venue protection. All the frontline news from the UK’s grassroots music venue ecosystem, straight from the source.
Disclaimer: All data is correct on the date of filming 17/09/2025
Waterbear and The Music Venue Trust (MVT), supported by Love Music Hate Racism and Save Our Scene, announces a “Keeping Music Live” tour, running from October 18 to November 1, 2025, supporting grassroots music venues across the UK.
The tour will visit seven cities, including Hull (The New Adelphi Club), Sheffield (Yellow Arch Studios), Manchester (Castle Hotel), Nottingham (Rough Trade), Norwich (Voodoo Daddy’s), London (Rough Trade East), and Brighton (WaterBear Venue). Each date will celebrate the unique identity of these venues and the communities that surround them.
The Last Safe Space a straight-talking, data-driven podcast from Music Venue Trust. Each episode breaks down the biggest news affecting the UK’s grassroots music venues – from government policy to local wins, campaigns, crisis cases, and how you can take action to support live music.
In this episode: In this special edition of The Last Safe Space, Toni sits down with Music Venue Trust’s Chief Operating Officer, Beverley Whitrick, for an inside look at the work that keeps grassroots music venues alive. From the very first Grassroots Networking Day and partnerships with cultural institutions like the V&A and Southbank Centre, to ten years of Venues Day, Beverley shares how the conversation has shifted from survival to recognition, and why grassroots venues are finally being seen as the cultural powerhouses they’ve always been.
Disclaimer: All data is correct on the date of filming 17/09/2025
Music Venue Properties are proud to announce that three more grassroots music venues will officially joined the Own Our Venues campaign.
Northern Guitars, Leeds, Gut Level, Sheffield and Little Buildings, Newcastle.
These venues are deeply rooted in their communities, but like so many others, they’re under immediate threat. All three buildings are currently being offered for sale by their landlords, and the venues operating within them have little or no lease security. Without intervention, they could be lost. That’s why they’ve joined the movement to take grassroots music venues into community ownership, permanently.
To support the inclusion of these three venues, MVP also slightly extended the Own Our Venues campaign deadline to 14 November 2025. This gives them more time to raise capital, welcome new investors, and work closely with these venues’ incredible communities to secure their futures.
The situation facing these three spaces underlines the ongoing risk to grassroots music venues across the UK. All are under immediate threat, and they’re far from alone, more communities are at risk of losing vital cultural infrastructure every day. But these venues also show the strength and diversity of what we stand to protect: three small but critical spaces rooted in their local scenes, serving artists, fans and neighbours alike.
Crucially, they also show the momentum behind this campaign. In each case, it was the venue operators or landlords who came to us, believing that community ownership, and your support, can provide a long-term solution.
These additions bring us to nine venues currently in the campaign pipeline each one a vital part of its region’s musical and cultural life:
The Croft – Bristol.
Esquires – Bedford
The Joiners – Southampton
Peggy’s Skylight – Nottingham
The Pipeline – Brighton
The Sugarmill – Stoke-on-Trent
Northern Guitars – Leeds
Gut Level – Sheffield
Little Buildings – Newcastle
If you want to invest some of your own cash into supporting venues such as this, for as little as £100 then go to the Crowdfunder page HERE.
The Last Safe Space a straight-talking, data-driven podcast from Music Venue Trust. Each episode breaks down the biggest news affecting the UK’s grassroots music venues – from government policy to local wins, campaigns, crisis cases, and how you can take action to support live music.
In this episode: Toni and Mark tackle government changes, levy deadlines, and real crisis cases, including venues struggling with PRS/PPL invoices. Plus: Sam Fender’s £100k lifeline, Coldplay’s Wembley commitment, and the power of Sonic Boom Festival.
Disclaimer: All data is correct on the date of filming 17/09/2025
The Last Safe Space a straight-talking, data-driven podcast from Music Venue Trust. Each episode breaks down the biggest news affecting the UK’s grassroots music venues – from government policy to local wins, campaigns, crisis cases, and how you can take action to support live music.
In this episode: festivals + venues linking arms, Coldplay’s 10% ticket pledge, a new national networking day, the power of community ownership, the real story behind “Grassroots Music Venue,” and another Agent of Change win. Plus, fundraising hero Andy Hobson.
Disclaimer: All data is correct on the date of filming 13/08/2025
The Last Safe Space a straight-talking, data-driven podcast from Music Venue Trust. Each episode breaks down the biggest news affecting the UK’s grassroots music venues – from government policy to local wins, campaigns, crisis cases, and how you can take action to support live music.
In this episode: Toni Coe and Mark Davyd discuss the Prime Minister’s backing of the £1 Grassroots Levy, the latest adoption numbers, frontline crisis cases, and how community power is saving venues across the UK.
Disclaimer: All data is correct on the date of filming 13/08/2025
The Last Safe Space a straight-talking, data-driven podcast from Music Venue Trust. Each episode breaks down the biggest news affecting the UK’s grassroots music venues – from government policy to local wins, campaigns, crisis cases, and how you can take action to support live music.
In this episode: Toni Coe and Mark Davyd unpack a major win on licensing, Manchester’s new funding blueprint, MPs backing grassroots venues, and the latest updates on crisis cases, campaigns, and Own Our Venues.
Disclaimer: All data is correct on the date of filming 13/08/2025
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