Museum Freelance Covid-19 Hardship Fund opens

I co-run Museum Freelance in a voluntary capacity with Marge Ainsley and we champion and support freelancers working with museums, galleries, heritage sites, archives and libraries.

Throughout lockdown we've been lobbying hard behind the scenes on behalf of the self-employed in the sector. Whilst the Government's Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) was a welcome and much-needed boost for many, many people were not covered under the scheme including:

• people who started freelancing after April 2019

• people who were previously majority employed in the SEISS eligibility years but are now majority self-employed

• people who are the owner/director of a limited company.

We are therefore so pleased to have secured a £7,500 grant to provide emergency support for freelancers who work with museums, heritage sites, galleries, archives and libraries in the UK.

Museum Freelance's Covid-19 Hardship Fund is for freelancers who are in urgent need of critical financial support due to the devastating impact of Covid-19 on their work and livelihood, and who have not been eligible for and received the government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

There will be 15 grants of £500 each. The grants do not need to be repaid.

The fund has been made possible thanks to a generous grant from a charitable trust that wishes to remain anonymous, and will be distributed by the Museums Association – we are enormously grateful to both organisations and their supportive representatives.

Please visit our website for the full details and apply through this short form by Friday 4 September if you are eligible, and do share with others who may benefit from this fund.

Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash