Music Venue Trust (MVT) has announced a groundbreaking new initiative that will see Belfast City Council become the first local authority in the UK to support its local grassroots music venues (GMVs) via MVT’s Pipeline Investment Fund (PIF).

The fund, set up in autumn 2022, has so far successfully administered small grants to over 60 GMVs across the UK, enabling them to make improvements to their venues or provide training.

Belfast City Council, as part of their recently launched ‘Music Matters’ programme has committed £20K to the PIF which will be ring-fenced for Belfast venues, who in turn will be able to apply for grants up to £5,000 to be used for sound, lights, sound, access, ventilation and minor building alterations, or for staff training, diversifying workforces, succession planning, skills development, and strengthening local community ties. Applications will be open from 3 July to 25 August. Full information can be found here.

“Our council is committed to supporting and nurturing our local music scene, and capitalising upon the economic, social and regenerative value music can bring to our city,” said Councillor Clíodhna Nic Bhranair, Chair of the council’s City Growth and Regeneration Committee. “Igniting the live experience and supporting venues to deliver the best experiences they can is a key pillar of our Music Matters strategy. The Pipeline Investment Fund will support small venues to make improvements to enhance what it’s like to attend a gig or perform your music in front of a live audience.

“I’d encourage all eligible venues to take a look at the funding available and see how it can best support them, whether through physical improvements or behind the scenes in the shape of staff training or improving skills.”

GMVs in Belfast will be encouraged to apply for amounts that will make a material improvement to the artist and audience experience while safeguarding the efficient running of venue spaces. Applications can be submitted throughout the summer, with decisions made in early autumn, and MVT will administer the process enabling Belfast City Council to sign off on successful applicants and ensuring that any funding meets intended criteria.

MVT is keen to work with other local authorities, organisations and companies who would like to offer financial support but may not have a mechanism to do so and hopes that others will use Belfast City Council’s decision to utilise an existing grant model as an effective template to provide financial support to their local grassroots music venues.

Beverley Whitrick, Chief Operating Officer at Music Venue Trust said, “This exciting new partnership with Belfast City Council, which will see £20k invested in the Music Venue Trust Pipeline Investment Fund, is exactly the kind of forward thinking collaboration that will help save and protect our local grassroots music venues. As well as the significant revenues they deliver to local economies these venues are a vital part of the cultural life of the towns and cities in which they are based. Belfast City Council recognise this and we urge other local authorities to follow their lead.”