Music / Save The Croft
The Croft fundraiser tips over £1m with one day to go
The crowdfunder that hopes to raise enough to see the reopening of seven venues across the UK, including the Croft on Stokes Croft, has tipped over the £1m mark.
With eight hours to go before the deadline, 69 per cent of the funds needed have been raised with support from over 600 investors that have bought community shares in the venues.
The Own Our Venues campaign, spearheaded by Music Venue Properties (MVP), has a target of £1.5m to bring these venues into community ownership, with MVP as the benevolent landlord, providing long term security and protection for the grassroots music sector.
is needed now More than ever
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Matt Otridge, who started his career as a punk musician and promoter at the Croft in the early 2000s, became involved in MVP following his successful community ownership campaign that raised £300,000 for the Exchange in 2018.
He heralded the milestone as “amazing”, thanking the Bristol investors so far and urging people to contribute if they haven’t yet done so.
The campaign has been supported with a “significant donation” by Marshall amp founder Terry Marshall and his wife Lesley in what MVP said was a “powerful vote of confidence”.
“Small venues have played a vital role over the years in my long career as a professional sax player, and, of course, created the path to success for countless other musicians too,” said Marshall.
“But so many have closed their doors since I first started out at the age of 14. My wife, Lesley, and I get to grassroots venues whenever we can, as we both appreciate live music close up and personal. We hope that future generations of musicians and music lovers will be able to have these amazing experiences too. That’s why we’re supporting Own Our Venues with a substantial contribution. With enough support from others in the music industry and fellow artists, OOV can make that hope a reality. It’s up to you.”
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Other campaign backers include party starting artist Andrew WK who commented “stay strong and the party gods will abide” on the campaign launch announcement.
The Croft has already started to recruit staff and has opened up bookings for bands from September onwards.
Find out more about the Own Our Venues campaign and invest at crowdfunder.co.uk/p/own-our-venues
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