Retro receives vital funding from Music Venue Trust

11 grassroots music venues across the UK have received almost £40,000 in total for a range of equipment purchases, air conditioning and building work from Music Venue Trust.

The charitable organisation works with local venues, acting to protect, secure and improve UK grassroots music venues for the benefit of the spaces, communities and upcoming artists.

Manchester’s Retro venue was one of the venues to receive money from the Trust as part of its Pipeline Investment Fund.

The Pipeline Investment Fund was first established with the support of members of the Music Venues Alliance, getting its funding primarily from ticket sales of MVT’s ‘Revive Live’ programme of gigs around the UK, which was a partnership with The National Lottery.

Small scale grant applications of up to £5,000 were invited from UK-based venues to support two key areas of work; small scale capital projects (lights, sound, ventilation etc) and staff and training (workforce, diversification, skills development, local community and more).

Mark Dayvd, CEO of Music Venue Trust said: “The Pipeline Investment Fund is proof of what a huge difference relatively small amounts of money can make to local Grassroots Music Venues. Music Venue Trust is investing this money directly into facilities for artists and for local music communities improving venues for everyone.

“We’d like to see every stadium and arena show in the country making a small contribution to this fund. Every headline artist should be able to know with confidence that when they reach the top of our industry the impact of their success ripples back to directly support the venues and communities where the launched their career. MVT has created the mechanism to make that possible, we need the music industry to come together and make it happen.”

Alongside Retro, other venues across the UK benefited from the fund, including: