• The BRIT Award-winning band are announced as Ambassadors during a Parliamentary reception for IVC - the recently-launched sister charity of Independent Venue Week, that aims to promote daytime community activities in music venues

• 18 patrons have also come onboard to support IVC’s work, including industry leaders and artists such as Radiohead’s Philip Selway, Public Service Broadcasting, Bishi, Lambrini Girls, Pigs x 7, LIFE, Nuha Ruby Ra, Brooke Combe and Mumford & Sons’ Ben Lovett  

• “There is growing recognition of how crucial these spaces are for the UK’s music culture, and with IVC we are expanding that potential by encouraging venues to offer daytime programming for everyone in their local community. To deliver this, it is vital IVC wins long-term industry support.”

Independent Venue Community (IVC), the charity that brings a social prescribing programme of daytime education, development and community activity into music venues, has announced a wave of new supporters, with BRIT Award winners The Last Dinner Party unveiled as Ambassadors. 

Earlier this year, the band drew attention to the importance of independent venues when picking up their BRIT for Best New Artist. 

Speaking at a special Parliamentary reception for IVC, hosted by Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee, and attended by all five band members, The Last Dinner Party said: 
“We owe independent venues our entire career. They gave us a platform to perform for the first time. But even before we started the band, seeing other people perform on stage emboldened us. It gave us the confidence to do that ourselves.  

“We’ve seen so many artists around this country who are just incredible at cultivating a community, where people feel safe to perform music, poetry, drag, comedy or theatre. That’s why these venues are so important. They’re not just a pipeline to commercial success, it’s about the communities that these spaces represent.

“That’s what we really love about Independent Venue Community. The charity is reaching beyond London and decentralising. It’s great to see an initiative that’s encouraging communities to build something in their local area, rather than having to come to London.”

In her opening address at the event, Dame Caroline Dinenage also highlighted the wider impact of IVC’s model, and how daytime programming can help attract new audiences. 

She said: “I am so thrilled that Independent Venue Community is going to showcase the value of live music and arts spaces, which would otherwise be empty during the daytime, for public good. The charity has the potential to develop hubs where people are struggling to find opportunities, and for those hubs to become a vital part of our creative ecosystem and help eliminate geographical and socioeconomic barriers to participation.”  

Other speakers at the event included Lord Kevin Brennan, UK Music’s Tom Kiehl,YolanDa Brown OBE DL, Suzanne Bull MBE,Big Jeff, Wozzy Brewster OBE FRSA, JJ Tatten (The Warren), Jodie Langford & Sahar Summer, Claire Cordeaux (BAPAM), Tony Ereira (Come Play With Me), Kris Halpin, Dom Frazer from The Boileroom Guildford and Liz Price from Birkenhead’s Future Yard. 

Sybil Bell, Founder & CEO of Independent Venue Community: “When The Last Dinner Party spoke about the importance of independent music venues at this year’s BRIT Awards it was a real moment for me. I’m over the moon that the band supports what we are setting out to achieve with the charity and have come onboard as Ambassadors. There is growing recognition of how crucial these spaces are for the UK’s music culture, and with IVC we are expanding that potential by encouraging venues to offer daytime programming for everyone in their local community. To deliver this, it is vital IVC wins long-term industry support.”

Launched officially in September 2024, IVC was developed alongside Independent Venue Week (IVW), the UK’s much-loved annual 7-day celebration of independent music & arts venues and the people that own, run and work in them. 

The charity has established a wide-reaching programme of social prescribing activities for venues, targeting specific demographic groups - including parents and toddlers, young people, deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people, the LGBTQIA+ community, the older generation and those looking for mental health and wellbeing support. 

The latest of these is GROW, an environmental initiative supporting venues to turn their outside spaces over to planting, growing and wildlife to create more greenspace and give local communities the opportunity to come and nurture the plants, learn about wildlife and make local connections with like-minded people.

Full details of IVC’s programmes can be found here. 

IVC is currently running a pilot programme of “Soundcheck Sessions” in the East of England, working with venues including The Smokehouse, St Stephens Church and The Baths in Ipswich, The Portland Arms (Cambridge), The Hunter Club (Bury St Edmunds), The Met Lounge (Peterborough) and Epic Studios, Norwich Arts Centre and Voodoo Daddy’s in Norwich to offer access to venues for local schools, colleges and youth groups. 

IVC’s trustees are YolanDa Brown OBE DL, Suzanne Bull MBE, Maggie Crowe MBE, Kris Halpin (Dyskinetic), Stephanie Hardwick, JJ Tatten, Sam Thompson and Estelle Wilkinson. 

Reflecting a groundswell of industry support, IVC have also announced 18 new patrons today including artists and industry leaders. 

These patrons are: Ben Lovett, Big Jeff, Bishi, Brooke Combe, Christine Osazuwa (Measure of Music), David Martin (Featured Artists Coalition), Emma Snook (Partisan Records),Lambrini Girls, LIFE, Nuha Ruby Ra, Philip Selway, Pigs X 7,Public Service Broadcasting, Sara Gleadhall (Global Motion), Sarah Jones (Songkick), Sarah Wilson (Tunecore), Tasha Gregory (Mother Artists) and Wozzy Brewster OBE FRSA (Midi Music Company).

Philip Selway: "Throughout my life, independent venues have given me a great sense of community both as a gig-goer and as a performer. They are places where I’ve been able to grow and connect with others through a shared love of music. I’m proud to support IVC in their ongoing work to open up these spaces as hubs for essential programmes that provide support, personal development and change, right at the heart of the local community."

David Martin, CEO, Featured Artists Coalition: “I’m honoured to become a Patron of Independent Venue Community and support its vital mission to bring people together through music and culture. This charity is about more than just venues—it’s about strengthening communities, creating opportunities, and making sure everyone has access to inspiring, shared experiences.”

Bishi: “I started performing in bands in small venues and underground nightclubs from the age of 14. I would not have a career without these experiences & feel passionately about celebrating and uplifting independent venues as culturally valuable spaces.”

Ben Lovett, Managing Partner TVG, Mumford and Sons: “I’m proud to be a Patron of Independent Venue Community. As a musician, promoter, and now venue builder, I’ve seen the power of countries that prioritise independent venues and the communities around them. These spaces offer vital opportunities - to work in the industry, attend gigs, and forge connections that shape cultural life. Everyone deserves access to that, regardless of background, postcode or connections.

“We see music as a catalyst for positive change, driving economic and social impact through venues that celebrate not only live performance, but also great food and drink—places where culture is shared and sustained. Though often open only a few hours a week, these venues endure as essential “third places”—where we come together with friends, family, and the artists who move us. Somewhere between melody and lyric, we find truth—and the joy of standing, singing, and celebrating together. It makes us all more human and more connected."

Christine Osazuwa, Founder, Measure of Music "I grew up in a smaller city where opportunities in music felt miles away (literally and figuratively). Independent Venue Community matters to me because it brings those opportunities to people, instead of expecting them to leave home to chase them. It’s about access, representation, and showing young people that they belong in this industry too. I'm honoured to be a patron of IVC and will continue to champion diversity and inclusion in live music."

Wozzy Brewster, OBE FRSA – Founder | Executive Director, The Midi Music Company & Artist Manager “I started my career at The Albany Empire in Deptford south-east London, volunteering and then working as an Arts Administrator right the way through to becoming the House Manager prior to working for Community Music as their South East London Project Manager so this request brings me back to my ROOTS – I LOVED managing a venue, especially one that was fully embedded in its community…I would have no career if it was not for this AMAZING space in my BELOVED DEPTFORD!! It is truly an honour to be a Patron for IVC.”

IVC would also like to thank Global Motion, Hardwick & Morris, UK Music and Estelle Wilkinson, who provided support for the Parliamentary event to take place. 

www.independentvenuecommunity.com