The past 12 months have seen over 550 independent venues in danger of closing or seeking economic help from the Music Venue Trust. Indeed, the COVID pandemic has unleashed various initiatives to defend the music sector, including industry professionals and small, grassroots venues. Unfortunately, some were forced to close, others managed to save themselves by running a successful crowdfunding campaign, like London’s Black Heart.
Now, a new action has been put on the table by the London brewery Signature Brew. In fact, they have announced a Beer Grants scheme, giving away £250,000 worth of their signature beer Studio Lager to support UK’s grassroots venues. These venues can apply for grants up to £5,000 worth of beer. Touring bands are also included in this initiative to help them cover some of their expenses: artists with gigs booked in the UK within the next 12 months will be eligible to have some beer to take on the road with them.
Signature Brew co-founder Sam McGregor said: ‘We’re passionate about live music and we’re going to help independent venues and musicians however we can. The idea for the Beer Grant scheme came from wanting to offer the thing we do best as a way to make life easier for venues and touring bands after an unprecedentedly difficult year. We want to help as many venues as possible and we believe the Signature Brew Beer Grant will contribute to safeguarding the future of the UK’s music scene.’
Signature Brew has always tried to help the music sector during this worldwide pandemic by hiring out-of-work road crew as delivery drivers. Also, this business has hosted a series of socially distanced shows in North London, and August will mark their 10th anniversary, which they will be celebrating with a 10-day live music event. You can find more information on the grant scheme here.
