Following feedback from the sector, Creative Scotland, with the Scottish Government, took the decision to close the Cancellation Fund for Creative Freelancers on 23 January 2022, and allocate the remaining funds to this new round of the Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers.
The Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers provides support for those working in the arts, screen and creative sectors who are experiencing immediate financial hardship due to loss of income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Scottish Government has committed a total of £11.3m through Creative Scotland for creative freelancers who are experiencing hardship due to lost income from work and/or practice in the creative sector due to COVID-19. The Cancellation Fund for Creative Freelancers, launched in January 2022, administered £3.3m. This fund will administer a total of £8m.
This fund supports freelance creative professionals working in the arts, screen and creative sector in Scotland who are experiencing immediate financial difficulty due to the loss of income as a result of COVID-19.
Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they are a freelance professional, AND that they derive a significant proportion of their income from work that contributes strongly to the cultural life of Scotland. These roles include those whose work has direct creative outcomes as well as those in supporting roles whose work directly supports the making and presentation of creative work.
All applicants must be based in Scotland and must be able to demonstrate they were working and making income as a freelance creative professional before November 2021.
As well as accepting applications from new applicants, previous recipients of this fund can apply for a further award if they remain in financial hardship.
For full information on eligibility, please download the guidance notes.
£8m has been allocated to support this fund. This is in addition to the £3.3m allocated through the Cancellation Fund for Creative Freelancers in January.
Between £500 and £2,000 in support is available.
Previous recipients of COVID-19 funds for creative freelancers – i.e. those who applied to the Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers, the Screen Hardship Fund or the Cancellation Fund for Creative Freelancers, and were awarded funding in the previous round of funding - are eligible for a further supplemental award of up to £2,000. In addition, new applicants to the fund are eligible for a one-off award of up to £2,000.
Access costs are also supported – find out more about this on page 4 of the guidance notes.
Applications are closed. For more information, please read the fund guidance notes.
Please note, applicants will receive a decision within 20 working days of submitting their request. While we may be able to provide a decision sooner, all applications will be processed in this timeframe.
We offer access support to disabled applicants, tailored to individual requests. Support includes Sign Language Interpreters for meetings and scribing support for dyslexic applicants. Officers can offer advice to new applicants and support them to make an application.
The Equalities Team can offer additional one-to-one support to applicants with access requirements. Please note we will accept applications and supporting materials which are written in English, Gaelic or Scots. If you are a D/deaf BSL user, you can access our services with the Contact Scotland-BSL programme. Go to: contactscotland-bsl.org/deaf-bsl-users for more information.
If you need access support, please get in touch with enquiries@creativescotland.com