AFTER more than a decade of cuts to arts funding, as well as the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost of greed crisis, grassroots music venues and theatres around the country are at risk of imminent closure.

Without these absolutely invaluable community assets, millions of people would be deprived of the opportunity to experience live music, performance and theatre. If the government does not address the threat to our creative sector, we face losing an entire generation of talent to austerity.

According to the most recent annual report of the Music Venues Trust, 29 million people saw live music at grassroots music venues, which contributed approximately £500m to the UK economy.  This figure is not insignificant by any means, but with operating costs running at over £499m for the whole sector, there is only a miniscule profit margin of 0.2 per cent.