Scotland gears up for funding freelancers in need

Crafts Council & Craft Scotland, Help Musicians, Society of Authors, Visual Arts Scotland and BECTU have been confirmed as the partners that will help Creative Scotland deliver the Scottish Government’s £5m Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers, due to open for applications next week.

The fund – which is  not competitive but will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis – is open to those in “immediate difficulty”, meaning already unable to meet essential costs. It will provide bursaries of between £500 and £2,000.

A similar fund in Wales closed in just one hour after heavy demand saw 'maximum application capacity' reached in many local authority areas.