Freelancers and self-employed people are one of the groups of people who have been most affected financially in regards to the 2020 pandemic. However, the British Government and other organizations have created financial support for freelancers and the self-employed during the convid19 outbreak. I’ve compiled a list of some of them below:
1. The GUAP Fund Support For Freelancers
GUAP Magazine is the world’s first video magazine, a youth platform for-fronting creative culture, finding and sharing emerging talent. They are helping young creatives get through COVID-19 by giving £100 away each week through their fund.
2. Arts Council Support For Freelancers
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. They have made £20 million of emergency funding available for artists, creative practitioners, and freelancers during this crisis. They also have a fund available for organizations.
3. SEISS Support For Freelancers
The British Government has also created a Self-employment Income Support Scheme, whereby you can receive 80% of your income. At present, you cannot claim. If you are eligible, HMRC will aim to contact you by mid-May 2020 if you’re eligible for the scheme, and invite you to claim using the GOV.UK online service. If you successfully apply, payments will be made in June at the earliest.
5. Universal Credit
If you’re self-employed, you can also apply for universal credit via this link. The amount you receive may depend on your minimum income floor. This page explains in more detail about this.
5. Subscription Breaks Support For Freelancers
Some companies are offering breaks for their subscribers to help during the outbreak. Of these include Adobe, who is offering a 2-month free subscription break. It’s a bit of a tricky process to get there, but it’s definitely possible. This guide shows steps of how to get it. Virgin Media are also offering a pause for their Sky Sports and BT Sports subscribers since there are currently no sports going on. It may be worth checking if any of your subscription providers are offering any support during COVID-19. You may be surprised to find out they do and they may not state how long they are on offer for, so have a look ASAP.
6. Format Photographer Fund
The Format Photographer Fund is a $25,000 global fund to help self-employed photographers who may have lost work as a result of COVID-19. They are offering $500 to each individual. You also don’t have to be a Format customer to apply for this, so if you’re a self-employed photographer in need of help, you should apply ASAP.
7. The Author’s Emergency Fund
This Author’s Emergency Fund covers “all types of writers illustrators, literary translators, scriptwriters, poets, journalists, and others”. Basically, as long as author-related activities make up a significant amount of your annual income, you should be eligible to apply. They’re offering grants of up to £2,000. Apply ASAP.
I hope this list of financial support funds for freelancers helps you. Journo Resources have a more extensive list of support if you’d like to see some more options for journalists and creatives.
Staying active in quarantine is also important. For tips on this, check out this blog post.
