By Monk
The Music Venue Trust – the charity that campaigns for the preservation and survival of grassroots venues across the UK – has welcomed the news that Manchester City Council is to invest £250,000 from high profile summer concerts into the city’s underground infrastructure.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the MVT said:
This is how it should work: big gigs boost the economy, and that success is shared with the grassroots.
In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of music fans have converged on the city to celebrate its music scene – 340,000 at the five Oasis Heaton Park homecoming gigs alone. Other star names appearing in Manchester this summer have included Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Charlie XCX, Elbow, Fontaines DC and Robbie Williams.
This support is now a blueprint. Manchester City Council has taken the lead with this bold and innovative action and we hope many more cities and towns across the country can join their efforts to secure the future of the UK’s grassroots music venue network.