The Scottish government has announced a £10 million fund to help theatres and performing arts venues survive the COVID-19 lockdown. The fund comes as part of the Scottish Government’s £185 million ‘Business Support Fund’.
After the pandemic sent the UK into lockdown, many hospitality and entertainment venues such as restaurants, cinemas and, sadly, our beloved theatres were forced to close their doors to prevent the spread of the virus. As a result, theatre venues have been struggling financially with a complete loss of income. Closures also resulted in a substantial loss of many freelancing jobs.
However, during Friday’s daily Scottish government briefing, the Culture Secretary (Fiona Hyslop) announced the £10 million fund, saying that she hopes it will “help venues who cannot yet reopen to their audiences”.
She added: “This dedicated fund will be a vital lifeline to help performing arts venues continue to weather the storm”, implying that it will help them survive closure, but it will not ensure immediate opening.
The fund will be run by Creative Scotland, whose chief executive (Ian Munro) stated the £10 million will “provide a critical injection of cash to help meet the immediate needs of performing arts venues in Scotland”. The fund will remove the threat of complete erasure of theatres until the end of March 2021, allowing many staff to return to work from furlough.
Rhona Matheson, a member of the Federation of Scottish Theatre body, represents more than 200 professional performing arts organisations and individuals. She has said: “it [the funding] will benefit our sector ecosystem, helping to secure jobs and livelihoods wherever possible all over the country”.
Calls have been made to the British government, asking them to follow suit and support their creative industries in the same way, with Hyslop stating “if the UK government really cares about culture and creativity, there is a real responsibility now to step up to the mark and help provide support”.
Words by Lucy Lillystone.