English music venues to receive £2.25 million in pandemic relief

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  • Venues, including nightclubs with "a significant live music programme," are eligible for grants of up to £80,000.
  • English music venues to receive £2.25 million in pandemic relief image
  • £2.25 million in emergency grants has been made available to English music venues. As part of the UK government's £1.57 billion cultural rescue package, venues can receive between £1,000 and £80,000 until September 2020. (Music venues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be eligible for their own pandemic initiatives.) The scheme includes nightclubs "that regularly host DJ- and MC-based events but also have a significant live music programme focusing on grassroots talent and original material." The UK nightlife community had been calling for more clarity on which venues were eligible for the government's rescue package, leading to the launch of the #LetUsDance campaign last week. The funding is available to "venues whose main function is to present live music events for a public audience in the grassroots part of this sector," says the Arts Council website. "It's open to live music venues across all music genres, and also to multi-arts venues that host other events and entertainment other than music within which music forms a major part of their activity." The window for applications opened at midday, July 25th, and closes at midday on August 3rd. Decisions on successful grants will be communicated by 6 PM on August 10th. Full details are available on the Arts Council website.
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