A petition has been launched in order to urge the government to extend the furlough scheme for those in the live music industry.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s scheme is set to come to an end next month, meaning that workers who were aided throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will no longer have that support.
This comes after people in the live music and theatre industries claimed that, despite socially-distanced indoor gigs now being allowed in the UK, the majority of venues are not able to host such events with those restrictions put in place.
The general manager of the Production Services Association, Andy Lenthall, explained that workers in the music industry may be forced to opt for alternate careers if the furlough scheme is not extended.
He said: “We know that furlough is ending in October. We’ve already seen mass redundancies across our sector. For self-employment income support, the last grant will be paid this month and that’s it.
“We’re looking at that gap between October and March until everyone’s back at work. During that period, we estimate the loss of earning will be somewhere between £60-70million. That’s a gap that we can’t plug, so we need the government to.”
The petition has already reached over 10,000 signatures – you can sign it here.