The Music Venue Trust (MVT) presented singer-songwriter Frank Turner with its Outstanding Achievement for Grassroots Music Venues award yesterday, 21 June, during a wind-swept ceremony on top of London’s O2 Arena (cap. 20,000)

Turner, who played the first government-endorsed pilot live concert last year at the Clapham Grand, was recognised for achievements in playing 27 shows that raised nearly £300,000 to help grassroots music venues survive the Covid-19 crisis.

Turner was surprised with MVT’s annual award during the ‘Team MVT Up The O2 Climb’, which saw the charity raise funds by climbing up the venue as many times as possible within an hour.

MVT CEO Mark Davyd (pictured left) 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 (pictured, middle) said, “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.”