#SaveTheFerret - This Place Matters

The Ferret’s situation so far:

Early in 2022, we had a bombshell dropped on us. The owners of The Ferret's building had put it up for sale, potentially letting the place fall into the hands of a developer and putting our venue at serious risk of closure.

We have been working with our friends at Music Venue Trust to try to #SaveTheFerret through their #OwnOurVenues project. Read more about this below.

We also had a welcome delay to the potential sale of the building via an “Asset of Community Value” status for the building - with Preston City Council acknowledging the significance that The Ferret plays in both the community and cultural identity of Preston.

BUT - that was a temporary fix (lasting just 6 months) - and now that TIME IS UP. Our building is now back on the market, throwing us back into the danger zone. Anybody could snap up the building and turf us out for flats or whatever. Not good.

The MVT’s Own Our Venues project continues, and a combination of donations and grants has so far had great success in raising funds to #SaveTheFerret - along with 8 other at-risk Grassroots Music Venues around the country.

This is fantastic. However, we understand that some people who want to back this initiative are unable to buy a full share at this time.

We are delighted to announce that we can now lower our #SaveTheFerret crowdfunder target from £150,000 to just £45,000! This is due to the success of Music Venue Trust's continued efforts in securing investment, grants and loans from elsewhere.

So, what seemed like an insurmountable challenge, has suddenly become tantalisingly close. Our final deadline for fundraising is 30th March, so we have less one month to reach that goal of £45,000, or face the very real prospect of our landlord selling the building to a developer. We’re asking for your donations, of any amount, to help us reach that target.

If you value The Ferret and are excited about the future possibilities for the place as a cultural & community hub, please consider donating this month before the final deadline of 30th March. Any amount, big or small, is extremely welcome.

It’s a big ask, but we can do this with your help.

Help us to Save The Ferret!

About The Ferret - This Place Matters:

Housed in a centuries-old mill building, The Ferret has been a 200-capacity live music venue since 2006 when it first opened as The Mad Ferret. Since then, The Ferret (as it became known in 2014) has played host to thousands of live musicians, with hundreds performing every year - past visitors include IDLES, Ed Sheeran, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Buzzcocks & A Certain Ratio. 

Surviving when other Preston venues have fallen by the wayside, The Ferret has recently seen investment in a new stage and sound system - attracting some of the most exciting names in touring live music including Bob Vylan, Billy Nomates, The Orielles & Badly Drawn Boy recently. 

As well as the big names, The Ferret is the regular haunt of the local music community - with new bands & artists learning their craft on its stage, at open mic nights - both acoustic and MC-led, at open decks events for budding DJs, and as support acts for touring artists. Students from the neighbouring University of Central Lancashire run regular live music sessions and have the opportunity to shadow The Ferret’s sound engineering team, learning on the job. Local promoters are given chance to host their own events, and previous members of The Ferret team have gone on to work nationally & internationally on live music promotion and production. 

“The Ferret’s commitment to alternative culture in the City of Preston is unparalleled. We see it as our duty to champion new music, and to bring to Preston the kinds of artists that would rarely, if ever, be seen around these parts. Having the support of MVP as our landlord would give us the security and confidence to invest even more in grassroots music and create something truly special in our city.” - Matt Fawbert, The Ferret General Manager

An exciting future for The Ferret and culture in Preston:

Our main goal is to save what we have - The Ferret - BUT if we manage to save the whole building, it opens up a very exciting world of possibilities for culture in Preston.

After consultation with the community via a survey in August 2022 (and we plan to do more of this) - many great suggestions were received for what to do with the building if & when we secure full control of it.

As well as The Ferret continuing as your favourite grassroots music venue, there could be room in the building for:

• A larger multi-purpose venue room - which could attract higher-profile touring acts, as well as other shows such as theatre productions and stand-up comedy. This is a massively exciting prospect for Preston culture, as it’s been a missing piece of the scene for a long time, with the sad demise of the city’s larger venues.
• Food outlet(s) / cafe / restaurant space. We would aim to build an attractive experience outside of gig hours, which could mean a return to The Ferret’s previous excellent food offering & more.
• Creative spaces - artist studios, recording studio / music rehearsal spaces, gallery space, theatre space. Preston is crying out for this kind of space: artists, musicians, creatives & community groups need space to build on & exhibit their skills.
• As well as many more potential ideas still being dreamed up.

Plans are still in their infancy & we need to get through this crisis before we can put anything solid in place, but we would love to convert the whole building into a community arts hub for the people of Preston. Wouldn’t that be something fantastic for our city?

Donating Q+A:

Q. What will my donation be used for?

A. Your donations will be used alongside other capital raised to help purchase The Ferret.

Q. Why is there a donations page alongside a Community Share Offer?

A. This page allows anyone to support even if they can't afford the minimum price for a share. Furthermore, donations (and grants) can be deployed much quicker than the money MVP is raising via Community Shares. 

Q. I had planned to invest in the Share Offer primarily to help The Ferret - what should I do?

A.  Please donate today. Any donation made on this Crowdfunder of £200 or above (£100 for u25s) will be converted into a Share assuming The Ferret is purchased and the Music Venue Properties (Own Our Venues) Share Offer is successful.

Read more & find detailed Business Plan, Share Offer & Community Share Rules at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/own-our-venues

Q. Can my donation be Gift Aided?

A. This Crowdfunder is being organised by The Ferret so unfortunately not, but you can donate via this Crowdfunder so that MVP can claim Gift Aid. MVP is willing to deploy all donations via their central Crowdfunder towards the purchase of The Ferret given the current situation.

Q. What happens if this Crowdfunder reaches its target and The Ferret is not purchased?

A. Your donation will be returned in full.

If you can't afford to donate:

We totally understand if you can’t afford to donate right now, a free-of-charge way to help is to share our story. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your favourite band, tell your MP. The more noise we can make, the more voices get behind it, the more successful this project will be. Ed Sheeran is already supporting the campaign, as have many other big names in the music industry.

Here’s the full story so far, for those hungry for more details:

In March 2022, we were informed by our landlords that the owners of the building that houses The Ferret had put the whole place up for sale. The “For Sale” signs went up a couple of days later. The outlook was grim, we were looking at our building being sold into the hands of a developer - leaving our venue facing closure at some point in the very near future.

• The Ferret is currently being marketed for sale via Morgan Martin Estate Agents.

• The Ferret's tenancy expires in September 2023.

Eager to ensure that yet another Grassroots Music Venue in Preston avoided closure, we immediately reached out to our friends at the Music Venue Trust, and they told us about their new scheme called “Own Our Venues”. The basic plan is, they raise money via Community Shares and then buy the building from our landlords and rent it back to us at a nice price. They would be a benevolent landlord, with the same goal as us - to keep this place as a grassroots music venue in perpetuity. Forever. That way we can be secure in our own building, make significant improvements, and most importantly keep bringing fantastic live music events to little old Preston.

Read more about the #OwnOurVenues campaign & find detailed Business Plan, Share Offer & Community Share Rules at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/own-our-venues

So - the plan was in place, and it sounds like a dream come true. But it takes time to raise the cash needed. MVT are aiming to raise at least 2.5 million quid, to buy 9 at-risk venues around the country including ourselves and our nearby neighbours Sunbird Records in Darwen. But we didn’t have the luxury of time, the building was already on the market.

So in May of this year, we were very happy when Preston Council granted The Ferret “Asset of Community Value” status - with Preston City Council acknowledging the significance that The Ferret plays in both the community and cultural identity of Preston.

That status basically gave us an extra 6 months to come up with a bid to buy the place from our landlords. But, unfortunately, that was a temporary fix - November is a short 6 months away from May. You can’t escape time - and now that TIME IS UP. Our building goes back on the market imminently, throwing us back into immediate jeopardy. Any developer could purchase the building and make plans to convert it into flats, offices, whatever - spelling the end for The Ferret.

The MVT’s Own Our Venues project continues, and despite a positive start, the Own Our Venues project has some way to go before it raises the full funds needed to #SaveTheFerret. We also understand that some people who want to back this initiative are unable to buy a share at this time.

And so - this is where our final fundraising effort comes in. We now need to raise a final £45,000 at least, to be added to the MVT's funding raised so far, which will be used to purchase the building & secure our future.

We’re asking for your donations, of any amount, to help us reach that target.

Please donate today, and if you can’t, then please share this far & wide. Let’s see if we can save The Ferret from extinction… 

Thanks for reading this far!

#SaveTheFerret