Frank Turner has been honoured with the Music Venue Trust’s Outstanding Achievement award after raising almost £300,000 from 27 benefit shows during lockdown to help keep grass roots venues alive.
Mark Davyd, CEO of the MVT, said: “With all the venues Frank has helped, and all the people he has inspired to get involved in the Save Our Venues campaign, there was never any doubt about who should receive the award this year.
“Frank absolutely embodies the motto of MVT during these last 16 months; ‘People who say it cannot be done should get out of the way of people doing it’. Frank put himself right at the coalface of the work to reopen every venue safely, not just raising huge amounts of money but also using his name and reputation to stand front and centre of the fight to bring back live music.”
Turner said of the honour: “I was totally surprised by Mark and the MVT’s sneaky plan to surprise me with the award, and I’m hugely honoured by it. The last year has been so rough for independent music venues, and everyone has worked incredibly hard to turn things around. I’m glad to have been a small part of that.”
The MVT Outstanding Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual whose work, life and dedication has made an exceptional contribution to live music in the UK.
