Coronavirus / COVID-19 Updates
As of midnight on Monday 23rd March, all of our buildings were closed to public and tenants until further notice, following government directive. We are now able to facilitate safe access to studios for those who need it. We are aware of the possibility of localised lockdowns and would like to reassure tenants that we aim to keep your studio accessible for you to work in safely.
Tenants: find out how the Coronavirus pandemic affects you as a Wasps tenant here.
We take the health and safety of our tenants, staff and partners very seriously and have been reviewing our preparedness to ensure we can continue to deliver the most effective service and support our tenants and staff during this time. Wasps studio buildings are accessible for tenants only at this time. Visitors, and therefore classes and workshops, are currently not permitted in Wasps studio buildings. We are committed to providing safe and welcoming environment for all tenants and visitors to our studio buildings, and endeavour to support tenants to resume classes and workshops as soon as it is safe to do so.
We continue to monitor the situation and update on our social media and website when there are any changes. Please remember the current situation is constantly evolving, to find up-to-date information on the Coronavirus situation in Scotland please visit The Scottish Government website. The Scottish Government have recently published guidance for the creative industries, in particular for providers and users of creative studios in Scotland. You can read this on The Scottish Government website by clicking here.
If you have any questions you can contact us: coronavirushelpdesk@waspsstudios.org.uk
Funding Opportunities and Financial Help
The following links are for business and financial support funds. For artist commissions and opportunities, please visit this section of our website.
On Friday 28 August the Scottish Government £59m emergency funding for culture and heritage to address the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including £31.5m for culture. This includes a £15m Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund; a £5m Creative Freelancer Hardship Fund expected to open for applications in early October; a £5m Sustaining Creative Practice Fund - including £3.5m additional funding to the Creative Scotland's Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Practice, which is open now to applications; and a £3m Youth Arts Fund. More information can be found on Creative Scotland's website here.
The UK Government has an easy-to-use tool to help you find what financial support your business might be eligible for. You can find it here.
The Scottish Government small business helpline is 0300 303 0660. For small businesses, the Scottish Government's Find Business Support website contains the latest updates on funding, business support and Government action: www.findbusinesssupport.gov.scot
Creative Scotland's Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development is set up to focus support on helping individuals and organisations to sustain themselves throughout this crisis. More information here.
The £20m Third Sector Resilience Fund is there to support organisations across the third sector who are at risk of closure due to the disruption caused by Coronavirus. You can find more information, via SCVO, here.
Foundation Scotland have launched a response and resilience fund to support local charities and grassroots organisations across Scotland. More information is here.
The National Lottery Awards for All is open to voluntary or community organisations that will support people at high risk, will see an increased demand in this period, or that have high potential to support communities with the impact of Covid-19. More information here.
Black Artists Grant, funded by Creative Debuts, is a no-strings attached financial support for Black artists. Recipients will be chosen monthly, and every few months this selector will change. The first selectors are ROOT-ed Zine. There is no deadline as this is a monthly rolling grant, no age limit, and the grant does not expect any outcomes or reporting. Find out more here.
Social Investment Scotland and Creative Scotland are teaming up to present three online workshops aimed at looking at the challenges faced by creative and cultural third sector enterprises as they recover from the fallout of COVID-19 and begin to look to the future. These workshops are free, and attendees will then be able to apply for 1-2-1 support alongside a small Investment Readiness Grant to help progress their plans. More information here. These workshops took place in June, however you can still visit SIS for resources on finding funding.
Physical distancing and safe working measures are in place at all Wasps buildings. To enquire about a Studio or Creative Industry space with Wasps please click here.
Last update: 7 September, 15:50