A grassroots music venue in Ayr has received a cash boost to develop its space from which the whole community can benefit.
Venue38, on Carrick Street, received £5000 from Music Venue Trust’s Pipeline Investment Fund to revamp a ‘dead’ space to become a hub for film, sound and media students to bolster their skills.
The charity funding will also allow co-owners James Bunten and Tracy Anne McGregor to create a rehearsal space, green room and dedicated merchandise area for performing artists.
Tracy said: “The lower level of the venue has been a bit of a ‘dead’ area.
“When the work is complete the space can be used during the day by students from the local college for filming, music and sound production as well as local artists for rehearsals.
“In the evening it will incorporate a dedicated merchandise area and a green room for performers, as well as a more secure bar.
“We had been hoping to make the improvements for a while, however, due to the rising cost of living, it is taking longer than we hoped for ticket sales to return to pre-pandemic levels.”
Tracy said having access to the fund will allow them to move forward with their plans, as well as utilising their own income to complete it.
She said: “Like all Grassroots music venues our margins are razor-thin. This isn’t a profitable industry and we don’t do it for the money, we do it for the love of music.
“This means that saving money for important new equipment can be very difficult and unexpected costs, such as replacing equipment, can mean that we use up all of our reserves to do so, putting us in a position of financial uncertainty.
“The grant allows us to develop ourselves as a venue and helps free up more money for investment back into arts and culture.
“The funding will not only be important to us, but to all the local acts in the area as we try and support them as much as we can; the pipeline fund will allow us to do this more effectively.”
The Pipeline Investment Fund was established with the support of members of the Music Venues Alliance and was primarily funded by donations from ticket sales of MVT’s recent ‘Revive Live’ programme of gigs around the UK, which was a partnership with The National Lottery.
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