The Music Venue Trust (MVT) has partnered with Fender to launch a nomination scheme encouraging fans to champion their favourite grassroots music venues across England, Scotland and Wales. The campaign aims to raise support and funding for a sector that has faced severe financial pressure in recent years, with venues struggling to stay afloat amid rising costs and falling profitability.

Three winning venues, one per region, will be chosen based on the highest number of nominations and will each receive a bundle of Fender equipment, including amplifiers and a digital mixer, while all those who submit a nomination are entered into a prize draw for a Fender 75th Anniversary bass guitar. The initiative follows warnings that the grassroots scene faced "complete collapse", after 125 venues closed in 2023 and over half made no profit in 2025, with 6,000 jobs lost. Despite a government U-turn on business rates support in January, uptake of the voluntary £1 ticket levy on arena and stadium shows has fallen far short of targets, with only 8.8% of 2025 shows signed up against a 50% goal.