The Museum Freelance Covid-19 Hardship Fund Update

The Covid-19 pandemic has already had an enormous detrimental impact on the work, income and wellbeing of the self-employed. Work has dried up, been cancelled overnight and it is unclear when more sustainable and viable levels of work will start again. Freelancers often don’t have the networks and access to the same wellbeing support that employees have through their organisations.

Whilst the Government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has provided relief for many, there were glaring cracks in the scheme that many others fell into.

Museum Freelance was therefore keen to make a difference for freelancers in the sector that are most in need of support.

Our ambition was to provide short-term relief to freelancers whose income has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and who as a result are struggling to make ends meet. The fund was to meet critical needs such as mortgage repayments, rent, food, and childcare costs and for people with no financial buffer to fall back on.

Museum Freelance was awarded a £7,500 grant from a charitable trust that wishes to remain anonymous in July 2020 to provide emergency support for freelancers who work with museums, heritage sites, galleries, archives and libraries in the UK. We partnered up with the Museums Association to facilitate the receipt and distribution of the grant. There were 15 one-off £500 grants available to freelancers.

We received 56 eligible applications and undertook an anonymised and randomised draw to select 15 applicants to receive the grants live on Zoom with representatives from the Museums Association.

Sharon Heal, Director, Museums Association said:

“Museums need the talented and creative network of freelancers that support their work and are vital to their future. The Museums Association was delighted to be able to support Museum Freelance by distributing the grants. Covid-19 has hit freelancers particularly hard – especially those that have fallen through the safety net of government support.”

Christina Lister, Director, Museum Freelance said:

“Freelancing is precarious at the best of times but the Covid-19 pandemic has really exacerbated the lack of job security and a stable, regular income for freelancers. For many freelancers who have fallen between the cracks of government support, the situation is dire. Therefore, we are enormously grateful to the charitable trust for providing this grant and the Museums Association for their support, which has enabled us to help other freelancers who urgently need emergency financial relief. As well as providing the financial support, we know from feedback from freelancers that the grant was also an important symbolic acknowledgement of the contribution that freelancers make to the sector and that this recognition and support means a lot.”