Three key Brighton/East Sussex music venues removed from at-risk list

The Music Venue Trust has confirmed that 13 grassroots music venues nationally have been removed from the trust’s crisis Save Our Venue Red List.

The list highlights those venues at imminent danger of permanent closure. Removing them from the list signals they have successfully been removed from immediate threat.

Among those no longer on the list are: The Rossi Bar in Brighton; The Brunswick, Hove; and The Grand Elektra/ The Crypt, Hastings

In November the charity revealed its Traffic Light campaign, a new phase of its successful #saveourvenues campaign which is seeking to reopen every venue safely after the Covid crisis. The Traffic Light campaign threw the focus of the charity’s fundraising work behind securing the future of 30 venues who were ineligible to receive funding from, or wholly or partially unsuccessful in their application to, the government backed Culture Recovery Fund.

Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, said: “As a result of the amazing success of the campaign and a combined effort by audiences, local communities, local councils and the creative community, these 13 venues have now been removed from the red list.

“We want to thank every artist, every audience member, every member of our community for taking direct action which means we are able to remove these 13 venues from the Red List right now. The love shown for these venues continues to demonstrate how important they are to people and to our towns and cities. Music Venue Trust is committed to reopening every venue safely and we are going to carry on working through this crisis until that outcome is achieved.

“Music Venue Trust is now reviewing the position of all other grassroots music venues to analyse which venues are at risk and need to be moved onto the red list. The single landing page for the crowdfunding initiative powered by Crowdfunder can be viewed at http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-our-venues-red-list

"People can choose an individual venue to donate to and if an individual target is reached by a particular venue the surplus donations will go towards supporting other venues in crisis.”

Mark added: “Grassroots music venues play a crucial role in the development of British music, nurturing local talent, providing a platform for artists to build their careers and develop their music and their performance skills. These venues also play a vital role in the cultural and economic vibrancy of any village, town or city.

“A range of merchandise is exclusively available to support this campaign. Every item bought directly supports a venue, with MVT paying the costs of printing, packing and delivery.”

Those removed from the list are:

Arden Inn, Accrington,

Backstage Kinross

Boulevard, Wigan

Four Horsemen, Bournemouth

Gellions, Inverness

Hootenanny, Inverness

Plot 22, Sheffield

Rossi Bar in Brighton,

Strange Brew, Bristol

The Brunswick, Hove

The Grand Elektra/ The Crypt, Hastings

The Railway Inn, Winchester,

Waterloo Bar, Blackpool