The Old Courts donates £4000 to struggling music venue The Boulevard

The exemplary gesture comes just weeks after the announcement that The Boulevard is under imminent threat of closure; highlighted in the Music Venue Trust’s ‘Traffic Light’ campaign as one of the 30 most at risk venues in the entire country.

The crucial role these venues play in the development of British music cannot be understated. From nurturing local talent, to providing a platform for artists to build their careers and develop their music and their performance skills, they also contribute to the cultural and economic vibrancy of any village, town or city, something the team at The Old Courts are firmly aware of.

Dave Jenkins, managing director or The Old Courts, said: “We always support and champion grassroots music. We love the scene in Wigan and work hard to secure the best opportunities for our bands here. When we learned just how hard the pandemic has hit The Boulevard we knew that helping them would help bands, the Wigan scene and also help to protect the jobs of the staff at The Boulevard who all love music like we do.

"We'd kept a small pot to one side and planned to use it around now for a grassroots project. In our minds, we're still absolutely doing this, we've just adjusted the method slightly. We believe in true collaboration and feel there's no reason why venues can't happily co-exist for the greater good.”

In response to the incredible gesture, Emma Elliott of The Boulevard said: “Throughout these demanding past months we’ve seen the live music industry band together in mutual support, but our friends at The Old Courts in Wigan have gone an extraordinary extra mile this week by donating £4000 to our Music Venue Trust 'Save Our Venues' Crowdfunder.”

“We’d like to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly thank The Old Courts team for this much needed gesture and for setting an amazing example of community and industry solidarity.”

Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, said: “This is such a fantastic gesture and again demonstrates how highly valued these spaces are and the strong ties they have within their communities.”

A crowdfunding initiative powered by Crowdfunder has been launched to secure the future of The Boulevard alongside many others. You can donate to them here.

A broader crowdfunding initiative powered by Crowdfunder has been launched recently to secure the future of these 30 GMVs. By visiting it here, people can choose an individual venue to donate to. If an individual target is reached by a particular venue the surplus donations will go towards supporting other venues in crisis.

As part of these crowdfunding efforts there will also be a new range of merchandise exclusively available to support this campaign and available for delivery by Christmas. Every item bought directly supports a venue, with MVT paying the costs of printing, packing and delivery.

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 for your first month. Try us today by clicking here and viewing our offers.