Further details on the additional £7 million of funding announced by the Scottish Government last December to help the sector deal with the ongoing impact of COVID-19 have been announced today (Thursday 28 January).
The funding will be delivered in two parts. Top-up payments will be made to existing recipients of Event Industry Support Fund (EISF) awards while a second fund, Events Industry Support Fund 2, will be set up to receive new applications.
Events businesses who have previously received COVID-19 support through EISF will be automatically contacted from this week regarding top-up financial support. Businesses which have not previously been awarded financial support from the scheme will be able to submit applications from the week commencing 15 February with further guidance on how to apply available from the week commencing 8 February.
The changes acknowledge the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and their impact on the events industry, with many event businesses having not worked since March 2020. It also acknowledges the need to broaden out the eligibility criteria of the original Events Industry Support Fund to capture many of those event businesses it did not reach the first-time round and who may not have been able to access any funding up to this point.
The revised Fund will also draw upon £1 million of as yet unallocated funding from the first Event Industry Support Fund, taking the total funding to be made available to events businesses to £8 million.
Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events, said: “Scotland’s events industry continues to be severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, with many businesses having been unable to work since March 2020.
“This latest funding has been designed to continue to provide the necessary financial support to a broad range of event businesses within the supply chain given the initial timescales for the restart of events has been significantly extended due to lockdown and the ongoing concerns around the new variant.”
Image: Shutterstock
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