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.
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. 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.
If you have any questions you can contact us: coronavirushelpdesk@waspsstudios.org.uk
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.
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.
Useful Links
We understand this is a worrying time for many artists, freelance workers, small businesses and more. We have pulled together some useful links to give you advice and guidance:
The Scottish Government's Coronavirus Advice
NHS Inform
The UK Government's Coronavirus Action Plan
The Scottish Government's Coronavirus Route Map
Craft Scotland's Guide for Makers
Creative Scotland's Coronavirus Advice
Citizen's Advice Scotland: what Coronavirus means for you
Independent Arts Project: Links and Advice
IPSE: advice for freelancers and the self-employed
The Money Advice Service: employment, sick-pay and benefits
Mind: Coronavirus and your wellbeing
Scottish Enterprise - Coronavirus business continuity advice
XpoNorth: Coronavirus Resources
Visual Arts Scotland's Friday Forum
Make Manifesto - Resources, Advice and Commissions
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.
The UK Government have recently launched a helpful and easy-to-use tool to help you find what financial support your business might be eligible for. You can find it here. You can find more information on UK Government financial support available for self-employed 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. This fund currently paused and will reopen in August.
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.
The deadlines for the following have now passed
As of 8 June 2020, small businesses which share properties but do not pay business rates are now eligible to apply for grants to help with the impact of COVID-19, this means Wasps tenants in artists’ studio, where previously ineligible, may now be able to access a single one-off Small Business Support Grant of £10,000 (Phase 3). This fund is now closed.
The Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund is a £35m fund for the newly self-employed facing hardship, awarding £2,000 grants. This fund is now closed.
Jamhot are running a Freelancer Support Fund - 5 x £200 payments available to any creative / design freelancers currently struggling and in need of a little extra support. Email studio@thisisjamhot.com for more information. This fund is now closed.
Visual Arts Scotland have launched the second round of their Emergency Art Workers Fund, awarding grants of £250 to support freelance creative practitioners. More information here. This fund is now closed.
The Charities Aid Foundation has allocated £5 million to fund an emergency grant programme to support charities affected by the impact of Covid-19. You can find more information here. Applications to this fund are currently paused.
The Scottish Government Wellbeing Fund is open to public bids & charities, social enterprises, voluntary organisations & community groups are being invited to express an interest via SCVO Third Sector Info Hub. More info here. This fund is now closed.
Creative Scotland's £4m Bridging Bursary fund is for those individual artists and freelancers who have lost income from their creative work and/or practice due to Covid-19. You can find more information here. This fund is now closed.
The Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund is a £20m fund for small creative, tourism and hospitality companies not in receipt of COVID-19 business rates relief. This fund is now closed.
The Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund is a £45m fund for viable but vulnerable SMEs who are vital to Scotland's economy. This fund is now closed.
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.
COVID-19 Impact Surveys
SCA-N are collating information on behalf of the visual arts community in Scotland on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to help them get as wide a picture as we can as they advocate and build awareness. More information here. This survey is now closed and SCA-N will be sharing the results soon. If you haven't had a chance to feed in your information and would still like to do so, please contact SCAN directly on covid@sca-net.org, as they pick these emails up on a regular basis.
Completing the Culture Counts survey will help the team to communicate the needs of the sector due to the impact of Covid-19 (Coronavirus), to decision-makers in government and in parliament. More information here.
Scottish Artists Union are calling for members to add their voice to their 'Artists Safety Net' survey. Log in and find more information here.
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: 20 July, 15:00.