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Nash announced the news to her fans on Instagram, posting a story and writing, “Proud to be a new MVT Patron. The work I have been doing aligns with theirs. I’m ready to make bigger & better changes to my industry.” Nash and Berry were joined by music industry figures Summer Marshall, Robert Kilpatrick, Neal Thompson, and Colin Newman.  

Nash’s appointment comes as grassroots venues are in crisis, struggling to keep their doors open and closing at an alarming rate. According to the MVT 2024 report, a UK venue shuts down every two weeks, and a quarter of all venues face risk the of permanent closure. Even with pledges and donations, experts warn that there needs to be a holistic approach to the issue rather than short-term solutions that focus on immediate survival. 

Did you know one-third of Music Venue Alliance members are now not-for-profit? That’s a massive 29% rise in just a year! [image or embed] — Music Venue Trust (@musicvenuetrust.bsky.social) 5 February 2025 at 19:09

The ‘Foundations’ singer has been vocal about these issues, teaming up with Save Our Scene in November. Paraded around London on a converted fire truck, Nash used a megaphone to drum up support for venues and artists alike, as well as visiting the UK headquarters of Live Nation and Spotify to denounce the companies for failing the music industry.

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She also made headlines in December when she joined OnlyFans in order to raise funds that would support her tour. Named ‘Butts for Buses’, Nash used the opportunity to grab headlines and make the wider public aware of the costs of being a musician.  

Nash’s visit to the Palace of Westminster on January 27 put her in front of the people capable of making a real difference. As the singer said on her Instagram, “This gives me the chance to meet MPs & advocate for live music & artists in the UK.” Her visit coincided with the release of the MVT Annual Report.

The report laid out the grim reality faced by some of the UK’s most iconic venues. Despite contributing £526 million to the UK economy, these spaces remain under significant financial strain, prompting MVT CEO Mark Davyd to call for action: “Venues are still closing, still under extreme and totally unnecessary financial pressures, still failing to be recognised when government designs policy, taxation, and legislation. We need action, not words.”  

Sian Berry has also been a voice for change in the fight to protect grassroots venues, doing so as the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion. She published a letter on her website in which she fought against a planning application that would threaten the closure of local venue, Alphabet. Speaking at the launch of the 2024 report, Berry said: “I have seen firsthand the incredible and tireless work of the Music Venue Trust. As an MP, it’s hugely reassuring to have their insights and expertise.”

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Nash and Berry are the latest to join a growing list of high-profile supporters, including Sam Fender, who has pledged £1 from every ticket of his tour to the trust. Sir Paul McCartney is also a supporter, saying, “Throughout my career I’ve been lucky enough to play in venues of all different shapes and sizes, from tiny clubs to massive stadiums all over the world. Without the grassroots clubs, pubs and music venues my career could have been very different.”

Although their efforts have very much been in the same area, the partnership between MVT and Nash, as well as Berry and the four others, will reinvigorate the movement and hopefully bring even more awareness to just how vulnerable these important venues really are.

GMVs staged over 162,000 events in 2024, contributing £526 million to the economy, yet they effectively subsidised live music by £162 million while operating on razor-thin margins. A concerning 43.8% of venues reported losses in the past year, with emergency response cases rising by 19%, meaning nearly a quarter of venues face the threat of permanent closure. The report underscores the urgent need for enhanced financial support and stronger protections to safeguard the sector’s future.

The following graphic from the report illustrates the different percentages for reasons for closure of these small independent venues:

In the UK live music sector, the primary touring circuit consists of locations that host more than two-thirds of national grassroots tours, typically encompassing major cities such as London, Manchester, and Birmingham. Meanwhile, the secondary circuit includes venues in smaller cities and towns that host at least one-third of national tours, playing a crucial role in supporting emerging artists and local audiences.

The report highlights a dramatic shift in the scale of UK tours over the last three decades. In 1994, the average tour comprised 22 stops; by 2024, this number had dwindled to just 11. Cities such as Leicester, Edinburgh, and Wolverhampton have disappeared from the circuit, leaving large swathes of the country—particularly in Wales and Scotland—without convenient access to live music or the nurturing environments that GMVs provide for aspiring artists.

Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, commented on the findings: “The 2024 Annual Report recognizes that after 10 years of work by MVT, a very broad consensus has been built among politicians, industry, artists, and the public that grassroots music venues must be protected, supported, encouraged, and nurtured. […] Venues, despite all the very welcome good intentions and acknowledgements they are receiving for their vital work, are still closing, still under extreme and totally unnecessary financial pressures, still failing to be recognised, as everyone agrees they should and must be, when government designs policy, taxation, and legislation. It isn’t good enough to keep saying how much we all value them, we’ve got to practically do something about it. We need action, not words.”

The report makes it clear that without decisive action, the UK’s grassroots music scene could face an irreversible decline, stripping communities of vital cultural hubs and emerging artists of essential opportunities.

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This announcement follows Music Venue Trust’s recent highlighting of 30 grassroot music venues at risk of closing, due to receiving little to no support from the first distribution of the £1.57billion Cultural Recovery Fund implemented to culture venues across the UK. Venues added to the list include The Lexington in London, Dryad Works in Sheffield, The Boulevard in Wigan, and the Waterloo Music Bar in Blackpool, amongst many more.

Playing in a number of grassroots venues on their rise to stardom, IDLES have pledged their unwavering support to the campaign. “We would have been in the middle of gigging season right now, where grassroots music venues and musicians make their bread and butter, they need your support now more than ever.” Guitarist Mark Bowen commented in a corroborated statement with the fundraiser.

“Grassroots music venues are where music progresses, they are the places where future festival headliners start out, its where the music on the fringes gets an opportunity to grow and turn into popular music of the future, they are places of escapism and to speak to our times, make us think of the world around us. They are our culture.” The IDLES member also commented on impact the government has had on these struggling music venues. “Our government derides independence in culture and especially the music industry, this short-sighted view of culture and its economy will be all of our undoing’s. Support an independent venue/artist/movement where you can.”  

The fantastic @idlesband are raffling off an extra special @HiwattOfficial amp head and cab in aid of raising money to prevent the closure of Grassroots Music Venues.

Entries close at 6pm, Thursday. Have you entered yet?  https://t.co/8xJMZUnkeI pic.twitter.com/JaRrfHV2C2

— Music Venue Trust (@musicvenuetrust) November 24, 2020

Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd has also reiterated the importance of the campaign, warning the public of the consequences that will occur if venues aren’t given enough support.“If we don’t act to save them right now, we do expect a large number of them to be permanently closed – it’s as simple as that. Unless a significant movement is made in the next four weeks, we should expect them to start closing in the middle of December,” he told NME in a recent article.

“Without the public and artists getting behind the #SaveOurVenues campaign, 500 venues would already have closed since March. The fact that we’re now looking at over 400 being safe is a remarkable achievement. If everyone comes back with the same support, we could genuinely save these 30 venues. If people want these local venues to still be there when this is over there is a very clear call to action: choose a venue, get donating, get writing, get calling, get organised. Save them all. Reopen Every Venue Safely.”

You can enter the IDLES’s raffle here.