Artists' COVID-19 emergency relief!

Unprecedented times are upon us and as you can imagine, self isolation and quarantine are possibly the worst words a self-employed music teacher and performer can hear.  The COVID-19 outbreak across the world means that private tutors and gigging musicians like myself suddenly find themselves out of work. I make my living solely from teaching and performing, and have had students cancelling their lessons left right and centre and paying gigs postponed for the next 6 months.  Even though we work hard everyday to make a living for ourselves, being a self-employed musician doesn’t pay particularly well at the best of times and as such I don’t have a significant ‘rainy day’ fund to fall back on. I, like most others, rent my flat and live a pretty simple hand-to-mouth existence. We are often one or two bad months away from serious financial difficulty. No relief for the self-employed has been announced by the government and we don’t qualify for statutory sick pay! All advice for the self-employed suggests cutting extraneous costs (of which we have very little anyway) and living frugally (which we already do!) Besides, we’re not supposed to be going to the pub so that basically eradicates the one luxury expense in my life – beer! Please consider donating a small amount to my fundraiser to help ensure self-employed artists and musicians like myself can continue paying rent and bills with peace of mind during this difficult time. I am making online learning videos for budding cellists during my isolation so if you enjoy these or benefit (check them out!) please donate. The smallest amount will help; consider donating the price of the coffee or pint you won’t be buying this weekend due to social distancing! Many heartfelt thanks for your support and don’t forget to wash your hands!