A BIRKENHEAD music venue has been awarded a grant of almost £500,000 from Arts Council England.

Future Yard, based on Argyle Street, Birkenhead, will use the £499,999 funding to create a new 1,200 capacity performance space within a disused railway line next to the building as part of the Dock Branch Park regeneration scheme.

The venue will also use the funding to create an extension which will see ten more studio spaces.

This comes alongside investment from Wirral Council as part of Birkenhead’s Town Deal programme.

Craig Pennington, Co-Founder and CEO of Future Yard CIC, said: “The project will help us continue to show how music can be a driver of change, both physical regeneration and the raising of aspirations and civic pride, in places where investment has historically been too low.

“Music is scored into our history and heritage. It provides solace, joy and connection. It creates jobs, inspires our children, grows our economy and builds our reputation worldwide.”

Since opening in 2019, the grassroots venue has received social investment from NESTRA, kindred and capital support from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Wirral Council, which has enabled its owners to buy the building and invest in spaces and programmes.

Last year, Future Yard secured three years of funding from the Arts Council to join its National Portfolio programme and to help deliver its Let’s Create strategy which aims to ensure everyone, irrespective of background, can benefit from high-quality cultural and creative experiences on their doorstep.

Craig said: “Over the past year, 1,489 local children attended our weekly Mosh Tots gigs for one–eight-year-olds, and we’ve provided 12% of tickets for free via our Neighbourhood Ticket Scheme.

“Over the same time, our Sound Check programme has given 76 young people from some of the most deprived wards in the country hands-on learning opportunities and career pathways into the music sector.

“It’s great to know that people from communities who might not have even known these careers existed will be the next generation of event managers and sound and lighting engineers, making a living in the places where they come from and helping the UK’s music industry continue to prosper.

“At Future Yard we’ve always believed that music can change the world. And step by step, working closely with our local authorities and Arts Council England, we’re beginning to see that happen.

“As our new plans take shape, it will be exciting to see how placing music and culture at the heart of regeneration can offer real transformation for people and places, while pointing to a bright, reimagined future for Community Music Venues in the process.”