A list of hardship funds for creatives
There are loads of wonderful creative organisation that have responded positivly to the financial issues facing the creative sector in light of the Corvid-19 pandemic and the government restrictions. Take a look at the links we’ve compiled below by sector and see if there is a hardship fund that you might qualify for to help you through this challenging time.
Music
If you’ve been a member of the Musician’s Union for 12 months you can apply to their Coronavirus Hardship Fund
https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/hardshipfund
The Help Musicians Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund is now available. Eligible musicians can apply for a one-off grant of £500. £5m in total is available to alleviate some of the immediate financial pressure musicians are facing.
Performance / Theatre
For members of the Performing Rights Society – their emergency relief fund for members goes live at 9am on Thursday morning (26th) and will give up to £1000 to individuals. https://www.prsformusic.com/c/emergency-relief-fund
This spreadsheet is being updated but it lists Hardship Funds across the country for the Theatre Industry https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_LgEIh8Vaqvz7ee5yxs49YKkH_4WX8myymVA0jdJjRg/edit?fbclid=IwAR0P5v_agkmM4XcVpmbC4Gl8wTvHx7h7gIWWvEvHU_syWmIufmYOi4LQQzU&pli=1#gid=0
Another hardship fund for Actors, Creatives and Ushers working in theatres by Paul Taylor-Mills. Fundraising For Freelancers hasn’t finished crowdfunding but the fund will go online soon https://twitter.com/PaulTaylorMills/status/1242385141839863809
Persistent and Nasty (Glasgow) are crowdfunding a hardship fund for performers/theatre workers. The pot is currently £6K and the fund will be set up and the end of the kickstarter. More details here https://twitter.com/PersistentNasty/status/1239942457846095872
You do not need Equity Actors Union Membership to access their excellent list of funding, resources and strategies
https://www.equity.org.uk/about/coronavirus-advice/financial-support/#appendix-2
Also for those in PERFORMANCE (including international workers)
UK Theatre Industry Coronavirus Support
https://www.facebook.com/groups/489300505097902/
Artist
If you’re an artist who is a member of Axisweb they are working on a hardship fund https://www.axisweb.org/thinking-and-ideas/2020/03/hardship-fund/?fbclid=IwAR0PjsaaeQq0BKavVHGFWE4U00Hcq6QzmXa_BTsc2X9ziWSpRWVU5OWSsxM
For those making creative work in England, Arts Council England has released £160 million in emergency funding for organisations and individuals https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19
EMERGENCY FUNDING AVAILABLE FROM APRIL 3RD FROM CREATIVE SCOTLAND
1. A Creative Scotland Bridging Bursary Fund will help sustain creative practice by freelance creative professionals who have lost earnings due to the cancelation of work as a result of COVID-19.
2. A parallel Screen Scotland Bridging Bursary Fund will provide similar one-off bursary support to self-employed screen sector workers
3. The Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development will provide support for individuals and organisations to sustain their creative development in the coming months.
https://news.creativescotland.com/press-releases/creative-scotland-announces-new-support-for-creative-sector-during-covid-19-outbreak
Dance
The Dance Professionals Fund provides hardship grants for professional dancers (and not just for the current coronavirus outbreak) https://www.dancefund.org.uk/?fbclid=IwAR3kQl12rXAU7BaMkY6DdAA2n6w08OQPixdnTBOdpnzNoyhWeN8YRFQuxiE
Writers
A really good set of resources for writers from The Scottish Book Trust including Welfare Grants and Royal Literary Fund and others
https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/articles/resources-for-writers-during-coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR3NPclvdPFwWW3H-QC0AKEWB2YbafS2-zvQKShV7bIe-JrL52SBbkw2IGw
The Society of Authors has an emergency hardship fund for those who meet their membership criteria (but you do not need to be a member).
https://www.societyofauthors.org/News/News/2020/March/Authors-Emergency-Fund-announcement#
Third Sector
A resilience fund has been published for third sector organisations, charities and social enterprises, our good friends and partners Social Investment Scotland are leading on it and they have free financial bookable sessions here for all your social investment queries. https://creativeentrepreneursclub.co.uk/advisor/social-investment-scotland/
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