The Mayor of London launched a £2.3m Culture at Risk Emergency Fund to help some of London’s most vulnerable cultural places and spaces. The targeted fund is designed to help grassroots live music venues, LGBTQ+ venues, creative workspaces and independent cinemas to get through the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a total fund of £225,000 to support London’s LBGTQ+ venues.
The LGBTQ+ Venue Business Support Service has been launched to support venues through this crisis to and enable them to reopen, maintaining London as a beacon of world class LGBTQ+ culture.
Venues will work with a dedicated support officer who will provide advice and guidance on range of measures, such as helping to secure reductions in running costs (e.g. negotiating a rent discount with landlord or a break in mortgage payments). They will also make sure venues have accessed support from other appropriate sources, such as government COVID-19 schemes.
Based on their situation and level of risk, venues will be able to apply for appropriate grant support. It is estimated that the average grants per organisation will be in the range of £2,000 to £15,000, with larger grants being exceptional. Grants must be used within six months of being offered or otherwise should be repaid.
There are no formal match funding requirements, but venues will have to show clear evidence that they have perused other methods of supporting their business while it has been closed.
There are no specific deadlines for applications as support officer will be working directly with venues.
To access the service your business must meet all of the following criteria:
-
Your business must be operating in Greater London
-
The main purpose of your business must be running an LGBTQ+ space
-
Your business must have a track record of providing for the LGBTQ+ community
-
Your business must have been recognised and promoted as an LGBTQ+ venue prior to March 2020
-
Your business must be in immediate need of financial support and advice.
The LGBTQ+ Business Support Service is intended to support your organisation in responding to the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis. This could include:
-
Rent (this is limited to an emergency contribution whilst rent relief is sought from your landlord)
-
Utility bills (this is limited to an emergency contribution whilst utility bill relief is sought from your supplier)
-
Repayment of existing bank loans (this is limited to an emergency contribution whilst a loan repayment holiday is sought from your supplier)
-
Insurance and maintenance costs
-
Staff costs – we expect all organisations to be looking after their staff and taking full advantage of the Job Retention Scheme etc. offered by the Government. We are only able to consider supporting staffing costs not covered by any other means and would anticipate an explanation as to why they are included.
This list is not exhaustive and other items may be considered.
The following costs are ineligible under this Fund:
-
Costs or losses not incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
-
Costs beyond the next six months
Comments
Add comment