FROM THE PEOPLE WE'D LIKE TO HELP

FOH and Monitor engineer. I have been working in the industry for over 20 years. On 6th March 2020 I lost my first European tour which was due to start mid March and from there in a matter of weeks I subsequently lost every single piece of work I had well into 2021. I was also in discussions with artist management about working with a very high profile artist for the rest of 2020 and all of 2021 which also disappeared as soon as the lockdown restrictions came in. 
Currently I have no work whatsoever in my diary and have no prospect of any work for the foreseeable future. 
The financial strain is terrifying having lived and budgeted on the income I’ve had for the last 20 years to suddenly have to live, and pay the same bills on a quarter of my normal income is crippling, not to mention the strain on my mental and emotional health.

Drum and Keys Tech. Since losing work in the music industry due to COVID  I have struggled to find work elsewhere, which has led to severe money worries. This incidentally has led to me being unable to pay the bills to support me and my family. I have tried to explore every avenue, to fulfil these basic needs. This has left me feeling extremely concerned and has certainly impacted my mental health. Fingers crossed for a brighter future.

Lighting Designer, Lighting Technician, I feel as if live events/touring crew have been completely forgotten about. Whilst the arts as a whole has struggled, I have seen a lot more financial support for theatre and television professionals. Thankfully the US Live Nation fund generously offered me a grant ($1000), but it was just a scratch on the income I have lost for the past 6 months and the expensive cost of living in London.  I have not just been under financial strain, but mentally I have seen a change in myself. It’s been really difficult to stay positive and motivated; I wake up each morning and struggle to find a sense of purpose.  Not knowing when I will be able to return to the work and lifestyle I have worked hard towards and been used to for so long has left me feeling anxious and quite frankly depressed. The end is still not in sight, and we will be the very last to go back to work. We need supporting, urgently.

Band crew member I have been in the entertainment industry in one form or another since the 1980's. I have a family who look to me to provide for them, and as there is nothing allowed to happen where I might get any employment, we are in a disastrous predicament. Sadly it's not a case of we MIGHT run out of money and have no way to pay the bills, we HAVE run out of money and have no way to pay the bills. Credit cards exhausted, savings depleted, assets liquidated. I've never in my life had to sell my car to make sure the electricity stays on for my son to be able to do his home schooling. Mentally, financially and socially, my family have been left destitute.

Freelance guitar technician
I’m an international touring Guitar Technician. I’ve been on tour non-stop around the world for 15 years. I had 10 months + of global touring pulled overnight just before we were about to start.
My partner and I had a baby 6 weeks ago so the financial stress and mental stress has been at an all time high, as I’m a director of a limited company I received no help from the government either. 
I received the Live Nation grant and the AIM grant twice, which has been stretched a long way. 

Tour, production and event manager
When the global event shutdown happened in March 2020, I had a full diary stretching well into 2021, both in global touring work and festival production management in Glasgow; these events were first rescheduled and then cancelled, I have lost all income
I have accessed the only funding available to me – a one-off grant of US$1000 from Live Nation, and the SEISS funding.
My work diary is now entirely empty – my touring clients are keen to get back to performing live, but there is no end in sight to the ban on live events in the UK.
I am living off my savings which are nearly gone. My partner is in the same industry and in the same position. Both of us have struggled with depression. We can’t see anything in the future that gives us any reason to be optimistic.
Careers that have taken years to build have been removed almost overnight.

Freelance sound engineer Because of the nature of my client base I've had to register a LTD company. I stopped working in mid March and had no work until late August.  During that time I had no government help as I paid myself dividends, furthermore, as I do my payroll on a yearly basis, I was also denied to go furlough and claim even the small minimal salary I pay myself as PAYE. 
The only way I survived (and keep surviving), is through a bounce back loan which I used to keep paying myself for but that is also running out.  I'm lucky in the sense that I have some TV work coming up but obviously all uncertain depending on whether it will go ahead.  It also won't cover the loss of earnings for the year which I will have to somehow pay back.

Sound System Engineer - I'm a sound system engineer and sound system designer with 21 years experience in this business. At the beginning of the year, 2020 was looking for me the best in my career, all my work I was already booked for cancelled until at least next spring, I haven't work for 6 months (since March 2020). After furlough finishing in October I have no money to pay for my bills, accommodation and food if no further support. I've applied to work for Hermes as a delivery driver, for supermarket work and farm work without success.
 
Tour Manager We were sent home from a European tour on March 13th this year, with two weeks’ severance pay. We were supposed to work most of this year, up until December. All of these dates are being rescheduled, re-starting in February 2021. Obviously there is currently no guarantee this will go ahead. I fall between the gaps for any self-employed aid scheme; I currently exist on £90 per week from Universal Credit, having used up all of my savings to support my family throughout this year so far.

Drum Tech I’ve been working in the live music sector for 30 years in a number of positions. For the last 6 years I’ve been the drum tech, touring extensively for this entire time. This has been my sole employment throughout these past 6 years. Due to Covid-19, this year has been financially catastrophic. I had confirmed touring work with a start date of 14th May, due to finish on the 17th December. After my cancellations, I haven’t been able to successfully find any work throughout the pandemic. I’ve received no compensation and the financial impact has put a huge strain on my family. As a creative I am obviously an extremely resourceful person and used to ‘fallow periods’ but realistically, there will be no touring work for at least another 6 months, probably a lot longer. I am prepared to try any work that is offered but as you can imagine, these opportunities are few and far between. I am trying to survive on the minimal amount from Universal Credit. I have had the 2 self-employed payouts, which stopped my Universal Credit. I have never had to ask for support from the Government before in my life, so this has been very hard for me to come to terms with.

Audio Tech Throughout the pandemic, those of us who usually earn a living from the live events industry have been hit particularly hard. There really is no obvious solution in sight and no one really knows how long it will take for it to return to any kind of normality, if at all. For me personally the hardships have been mainly financial. I spent a lot of time during the first period of lockdown looking for work that was suited to my skills as a sound engineer / stage technician, only to find the options were very limited due to the specialised nature of my work. It was close to impossible for my family of 4 to survive on Universal Credit and the first self-employment grant took a very long time to come through. This situation has also definitely impacted my mental health. I feared for my family’s well-being. I have constant worry that persistently causes sleepless nights. I'm very lucky and grateful to have a fantastic family. Not everyone is this lucky. With my career gone, I do feel a loss of identity. After 20 years in the music industry it has unquestionably become a huge part of who I am. There is also plenty of anxiety regarding whether I will be able to use my skills properly when I eventually get back to normal. I am writing to express the gravity of my situation. I work as an Audio Engineer and I have my own company of which I am the only director and contractor serving the theatre/music/live performance/entertainments/events industry. I stand to lose over one hundred thousand pounds this year and have no way of covering my loss.

Sound Engineer I am writing to express the gravity of my situation. I work as an Audio Engineer and I have my own company of which I am the only director and contractor serving the theatre/music/live performance/entertainments/events industry. I stand to lose over one hundred thousand pounds this year and have no way of covering my loss. The recently announced £1.57bn arts rescue package and the re-starting of outdoor events may sound like good news for the events industry; in reality the funding will not reach professionals like me and social distancing guidelines will make events financially unviable for both venues and suppliers. Politicians and the public may think it is now ‘business as usual’ for the events industry, but this is far from the truth. I am not currently working, and I have no work planned until March Next Year. I am using my savings to cover living costs which I estimate will be exhausted by September this year. I am not eligible for government support because I’m a LTD director who pays myself via dividends.

Sound Engineer For 2020, I had a planned world tour plus various collaborations with sound companies. Since March 2020 I’ve been left unemployed. The support I receive from the government is not enough to even pay my rent. I’ve been looking for various jobs since March, but no luck so far. The worst part of all this is  the impact on my mental health, being used to touring and being away 8 months a year, now being home every day with nothing to do hasn’t been easy at all…

Stage Manager I am a stage manager, working for international touring artists in the music Industry. Since February, due to the corona virus, I have not worked; I had 152 days of touring booked in, all my income lost. I have been applying for jobs in all sectors of the workplace for the past 3 months, but with NO LUCK as the employment market is flooded with people in the same situation. As aware as I am of the virus situation I cannot guess when our industry will reopen. We are struggling! We really are the forgotten industry.

Drum, Keyboard, Playback & Guitar Tech My work ended on March 13^th 2020, that was the last date I received any income. This pandemic put a stop to the tour which was spanning from April 2020 to November 2020. I’m a limited company of one employee. I had to go limited a few years earlier for a job that required it. The UK government has refused to acknowledge the limited community, thus there has been zero financial support. I’m self-employed but couldn’t receive the 80% the government were offering to none limited self-employed workers. I pay my taxes like everyone else and they’re a substantial amount…. I’ve had to put on hold my credit card and any finance payments I have. Putting my credit card on hold also means that I can no longer use the card in an emergency. I’ve tried to get numerous jobs delivering food etc,  but at 53 years old, not one employer wanted a guy with zero experience of handing over a bag to someone at a front door. I also take care of my 83-year old father’s monthly bills. His pension is very low. I have to tell him very soon that I can no longer do this. I have survived up until now by selling various pieces of musical equipment. This is no longer an option as it’s all gone. The mental strain it has and is causing me is heavy. I don’t sleep more than 3 to 4 hours a night, my mind running at 200 mph.

Tour and Production Manager I began working on preparations for various projects at the tail-end of last year that would have been my income from January onwards this year. Almost all work I had scheduled for 2020 has been rescheduled to early 2021, pandemic status dependent. I like almost everyone in my industry, had to down tools by the 12th March. As well as providing my production skills for events and touring acts, I regularly hire equipment to artists. The lack of events due to the pandemic means all rentals have been cancelled.  My work with Simple Minds was scheduled to run until the end of December 2020. The current furlough scheme ends in October leaving me with no other income. As a director of my own limited company, I currently receive the absolute minimum of support right now – approx. £500 per month. I receive no other benefits from the government or any other source,  As if the above was not enough, I am also responsible for my mother’s care home fees (she is a dementia sufferer).  As you can see, the pandemic has seriously damaged my business income potential. Any proposed funding would be well received and help shoulder the financial burden being put upon my business. If no funding becomes available, I will have no other choice but to fold my company with no foreseeable work on the horizon. This, without stating the obvious, will impact my personal situation and, equally as important my mental well-being. The stress and anxiety brought on by these concerns surrounding financial worries will be detrimental to myself, my partner and family. 

Production Assistant I am a Tour Assistant, Backstage Manager and Wardrobe Manager and have been working in live music events for over 15 years. In February 2020 I started work on a year-long world tour which unfortunately came to a sudden stop on the 10th March. The remainder of the tour was cancelled (11 March to 26 April), the summer leg form 19th June to 23 August has also been cancelled as has the Australian and New Zealand leg in November/December 2020.  I had another tour booked from 20 Sept to 20 Nov with another band that has also been cancelled. I have counted 171 days of lost work so far this year. I have also incurred some extra living costs as I have been stuck in Spain since the lockdown and have had to stay in alternative accommodation for 2-months costing me €1,400. I have had to help family members including my son and his new baby because they too were adversely affected by the pandemic and had no savings to fall back on. I have no work at the moment and have nearly used all my savings. It is extremely difficult to come to terms with the fact that at 56 years old, I may now find myself unemployed and possibly homeless if this solution does not change in the near future.

Lighting Technician Coronavirus has hit the stage lighting industry with a devastating effect and stopped it dead. I have been in this business for 30 years and have never known anything like this. Even the terror attacks of 9/11 in NY did not decimate the industry in such a way as this. All work for 2020 has been cancelled and am unsure what will happen in 2021 but I do not hold much hope so far of things improving. All this has resulted in an awful lot of stress and uncertainty, sleepless nights have not been uncommon and feelings of anxiety.

Guitar and Keyboard technician I have been a Guitar / Keyboard Technician working with bands and artists on the road for over 30 years. Since the Covid lockdown in March 2020 my life and world have changed drastically. No income and no prospects of income or work in the near or distant future. I have lost work with various artist 6 months. Several tours going up to Christmas have now been cancelled. It is very difficult to cope under these circumstances, the self-employed grant helped, but that ended at the end of August. The Government have made it clear that that payment was the FINAL payment. I am used to getting up in the morning looking forward to a long day's work, now I do not even feel like getting out of bed. If anything can be done to help me and others in a similar position we would be most grateful. It may keep the wolf from the door for another month or two.

Production Manager / TM / production rep I had been running my successful business as a sole trader up to Dec 2019 when I decided to go Ltd and incorporate the company; I had a full year of work booked in for 2020. When COVID hit, my accountants called to tell me that since I was now limited, I couldn’t get the SEISS help, and neither could I furlough myself, as I hadn’t been a limited company for that long.
Saving for years, I bought two rental properties, and my house, all of which have mortgages on them, and the rentals don’t make enough of an income after their mortgages to live off, so when I applied for universal credit, the most they would give me was £137 per month, BETWEEN myself and my husband, which would not even cover basic bills for us.
I had to take the bounce back loan out, but this has just made me in debt, and I don’t see my work as a production manager / TM / production rep coming back any time soon. I didn’t meet the criteria for the culture recovery fund either, despite going through all of the application and trying to make it work for me.
I’m stuck, I don’t have anywhere else to turn and I’m going to have to retrain as something else, since I don’t see a way out of this financial mess, and don’t want to be paying my debts back in to my 70s.

Audio System Tech - Last show 11/3/20. Background: Sound system designer for high profile rock bands & pop artists, active as freelance sound engineer since 1997. Forced to limited Company status due to changing requirements of clients as a result of HMRC changes to trading terms.
Tour was supposed to run til July, with the next 18month project starting around August. 2020 was on track to become the best trading year in 23 years! The 18month project has been postponed to start in 2021 now.
Received support as director of Limited company with one other employee and shareholder: CJRS to maximum of £525 each per month with reductions due to attempting to pursue other opportunities. The Bounceback loan took 2.5 months to get, placing business in debt for the first time since inception, no access to other funds, grants or UC due to cash reserves held as a result of BBL and Tax liabilities. All savings gone, surviving off bounceback loan offset against company assets. Current expected insolvency by January, at the latest, including spending funds allocated for corporation tax and personal tax liabilities.

Lighting Tech/Local Crew - Since lockdown back in March the events industry which I work in as a lighting technician and local crew has been nonexistent! All the grants that the government offered I didn’t qualify like the self employed grant as I’ve only been self employed for under 2 years! The musician and theatre grants I couldn’t apply for as some of the questions I couldn’t answer even though I’ve done many jobs as lighting technician and crew work in theatres over the years but not along the lines they’re asking Information for unfortunately. I’ve tried once and was refused on this basis..
 
Yes I’m getting around £900 a month from universal credit but I live with my girlfriend in our own place which our rent and bills come to roughly £2200 a month that’s without food and travel expenses. My girlfriend is on furlough and is only getting £1350 a month so we are seriously struggling here!
 
I’ve been paying child support for my 3 children for the past 14 years but unfortunately for the past 7 months I haven’t been able to pay what I usually pay but instead had to only give them £27 a month from my benefits which has put a huge strain on the livelihoods too. I wasn’t able to get a bounce back loan either so I had to borrow a total of £6000 from my parents over the past 7 months just to survive so I’m now in serious debt here!!
 
I’ve applied for hundreds of jobs and never even got one reply.
PLEASE HELP US

 
Sound Engineer - I am 23 and I have been a Sound Engineer and Tech in the Live Music Industry for 6 years. Due to COVID19 I have lost my entire year of work and thousands of pounds.
I slipped through the net for the Government Self Employed Grant scheme so received 3 months of Universal Credit and have had to work as a zero hour delivery driver to survive. It has not been good for my mental health and I am worried for all of my friends in the industry.

Audio Engineer - I am a touring system engineer with +17 years experience in the industry.  Came off road in mid November 2019 because my first child was due early 2020. Plan was to restart in May 2020 but COVID left me with no work. Been living off savings since then.
Enrolled in HMRC’s JRS & applied for ACE’s Culture Relief Fund in an attempt to keep afloat until March 2021. Recently found a job as rope access technician in construction but work will likely cease in winter. Will be left with no income, a £7k tax bill to pay by January 2021 & a family to feed.

Tour Manager - I was expecting to work as tour manager for an album campaign in 2020. I’ve worked for the band since 2014. The album was due originally in April as I understand it, and was pushed back several times to eventually come out August 7th, to considerable success. I was expecting to be busy working promo and touring for the majority of 2020. 
On the 11th March, 2020 California reduced the number for people allowed at concerts and the remaining two weeks of touring in the US was pulled along with the rest of the year. I’ve had no work since then. Unfortunately for me and the rest of the band’s crew, who are paid a day rate for the dates we’re away working, we’ve been grounded and the album campaign has disappeared. 
Unlike many live crews, we’re lucky to have rescheduled dates we're due to start from May 2021, but it’s a considerably shortened run than we were all expecting to work. The campaign had so far very successfully and creatively adapted to COVID restrictions. However, the lack of “live” leaves the crew and me personally with considerable financial strain. I have a mortgage and a one year old daughter. My saving’s aren’t going to cover me until I’m able to start earning and there’s no real telling whether the industry will recover to a point where I can recoup what I’ve lost, let alone start building toward a pension. 
Live crew don’t have contracts, or any of the benefits of being PAYE employed. It’s a financially risky profession, which has been affected terribly by the pandemic. While being very welcome, the “CREWNATION” grant took a long time to come through. In reality a one off payment of £750 doesn’t cover a month of out goings by some way.  Consideration and help at this point would be appreciated.

Stage tech - Since mid March this year I lost every work date in my diary for the foreseeable future. The world went quiet. Everything was deleted and my diary was empty for the first time in my 20 year career. I am a 38 year old man and all I’ve ever known is the event industry. I’ve been the sole provider for my family ever since my 3 year old son was born. I have a mortgage, nursery costs, household bills, car costs, my partner’s studies and many other requirements that depend on my salary.
But it’s gone, and now I look down the barrel of change with no respect or regard for the endless years I’ve worked hard and paid my taxes. With no understanding for what I do, what I did and what I’ve lost. A now time for a change, with nothing to actually change to. It’s deeply depressing and worrying position to be in. We are the forgotten. 

Production Manager - Since the coronavirus pandemic really took hold in March I've had all my work cancelled or postponed indefinitely. Whilst being eligible for some support from the government, it's not been enough to pay my bills. 
I've had some some amazing charity from one of my regular clients,  a large concert promoter and my local council - without this I would be in a much worse position. This help though is finite. 
As we head into the winter, with no work in the diary, I'm going to be relying on my savings to hopefully get me through to whenever we can resume work. This will leave me in a perilous position with no buffer when I do work again. 
The country in general is facing mass unemployment so jobs are scarce. Having spent the last 20 years of my life in the same highly specialised industry it's hard to convince potential employers in other areas to take a gamble on my skill set. 
Luckily, I have a family to look after, manageable bills (for the time being) and hope for the future. Many people who have found themselves in this situation don't and it's for those people we should fight, before it's too late. 

Drum Tech - Covid has affected me and my family hugely, i was at the start of a long album campaign in the US when we were sent home from California on March 12th.
My fiancé is also self employed and neither of us has been able to work in our chosen industries for the past six months.
We live in London; have a mortgage and a new born baby with no income and no guidance from the government as to when we will be able to return to work. I work exclusively in the live music industry and have done for the last 23 years
With the SEISS having finished in August the mental anguish is taking its toll as I wonder how I’ll be able to survive financially and support my family during these testing times

Live Sound Engineer - I left live sound and got a normal job in 2009 so I could become primary carer for my two young kids. My normal job didn't pay enough to support my family, and live music has always been a passion regardless, so I was also working evenings and weekends (when childcare allowed) and all my holiday allowance to make ends meet. Now my kids are in high school I was able to quit my low salary and get back to events full time, so left my PAYE role at the beginning of this year. As freelance work accounted for 45% of my income over the last three years I was deemed ineligible for SEISS grant. To add insult to injury, the £7500 private loan I took out to cover bills when it became obvious events wouldn't be providing an income was also treated as 'savings', thus reducing Universal Credit to a paltry £316 per month. I suppose I've been gifted to opportunity to choose whether to feed my children or pay bills. Being primary carer still meant I was responsible for home schooling both children, one of whom has additional educational needs, so I wasn't even able to enjoy the wonderful working conditions of the wonderful tax-dodging Amazon, or high-covid-risk environment of Tesco to afford both food and bills.

Sound Engineer - I am a self employed sound engineer who has devoted all of their time to this industry. I trained in the field and have been working this way for the last ten years, knowing nothing else. The amount of work I had cancelled on me was truly shocking, at a time in my life when I was already exposed financially. I am usually extremely busy, working at outdoor events throughout the summer with corporate and venue responsibilities in between.
To top it off I also have broken my collarbone in four places, meaning I can’t undertake any other work to offset my losses.
If there is any chance of receiving some funds from a grant such as this then please let me know what I need to do to qualify. I can provide references from the venues I work in, the artists I’ve toured with and the production companies I’ve freelanced for if necessary.

Sound Engineer - I'm a sound engineer who has been working in the events industry for nearly 20 years. I'm 45 years old and have 2 children.
I like many people's work completely disappeared overnight around March 5 2020 and has not yet resumed. The next possible bookings I have are scheduled fare or March 2021.
My accountant had advised me a few years ago to set up as a LTD company with myself and my other half as the company directors. This had worked well for us until now.
When the government launched their furlough schemes to help people out it turned out that I was not eligible for anything at all. Their reasoning for this was that because we paid our PAYE on an annual basis and that my accountant had not filed the RTI before March 15, even though the deadline was in April and my accountant filed it on March 30]. This made us entitled to zero. The government has not back tracked on this to date even though organisations like "Excluded UK" and "Forgotten LTD" have been campaigning about this problem.
I was also not eligible for Universal Credit as some money was owed from work during January and February and my partner is currently working. However her wages do not provide enough and we are falling further and further into debt. So here we are 6 months down the line with zero income whatsoever from the events industry or the government and we are running out of hope. I therefore hope that I may be eligible for the fund you are organising.

Lighting Designer - I have been in the industry for 35 years, and I truly, truly love it. I have been a lighting designer for all of that time, having worked for some of the biggest names in the business, indeed any live and recorded event that needs a light pointed at someone or something on a stage.
My last proper paid work was on March 2nd, when I got back from an American tour. I have had one one-off last week, but in over six months that really cannot count. 
As for support, I have received nothing at all from the SEIIS because my “profits were too high”. Even after appealing to the HMRC, which resulted in two phone calls from them, and a surprisingly sympathetic but fruitless attitude from them, nothing could be done. I tried to explain that our business is cyclical, and there is the possibility of not working from late December until possibly mid- March, thereby making any “savings” I may or may not have had, redundant. This, coupled with a tax bill at the worst time of year makes for a fallacy of the higher earnings. I also pointed out to them that, at the time, a fully employed, furloughed worker could potentially be earning half a million quid a year and yet still qualify for aid!
I am also not able to claim for Universal Credit because my beloved girlfriend is thankfully still working, but the government works by the household for this “benefit”, and not by the individual. I could not even claim for a reduction in Council Tax.The only aid I have received is the Crew Nation one-off grant of $1,000, which was very gratefully received.
In order to keep at least a little money coming in, and to stop myself going stir crazy, I have had to take a part-time job at my local aquarium store, where I spend four days a week up to my elbows in fish poo, and trying to explain to people why you can’t put a great white shark into a five litre fishbowl. And all for minimum wage! In addition, I have had to take a bounce back loan, which I am using to finance my tax bill when that comes round in January, and to keep paying into my small pension fund, because if I stop paying into that now, at my time of life, then I shall be truly up that certain creek when (if???) retirement age ever comes about.Looking to the future, I know that we shall come back one day, but it will be a huge struggle until then, especially with the confused and ignorant attitude of our government. The lack of understanding from our Culture Secretary is heart-breaking, and comments from advisors about “the fucking ballerinas can get to the back of the queue” do not auger well for anyone. Events do not just happen overnight- they take months, if not years, of planning, and a vibrant society needs the live arts in order to thrive. It’s only a sick, inward looking government that feels threatened by live music, theatre, a work of art, a dance, a cartoon, a poem, a film or television satire and so forth. They do not like to be mocked, or have their shortcomings highlighted for all to see.  So, that’s me right now. One of the strengths that we do have as a species of live crew is that we do provide support for each other, and the care that many have taken over the months to drop a quick line, or a phone call have been a lifeline.

Sound Engineer and Production Manager - I am a foh engineer touring for over 20 years and my partner is a production manager with similarly extensive experience.
We both have ltd companies so have only had a minuscule level of support and whilst I appreciate something is better than nothing it is a very small amount of money. And this will only get worse once the furlough and mortgage holiday ends next month, at the exact same time our baby is due!
We got pregnant in January as I am now pushing 40 (the baby is due on my 40th in 3 weeks!) We had been prolonging having children due to the seemingly impossible nature of touring with a baby/child in tow and we wanted to be sure we were in the best financial situation before biting the bullet, but at 39 it just felt like there was no more time so we went for it with the knowledge that we both had a lucrative and full year of work awaiting us enabling us to both be able to take some time off once the baby arrived.

Monitor Engineer - I am generally now seen as a monitor engineer. In March 2020 I was in the process of finishing band rehearsals for the start of a world tour, which at the time was booked for 220 days work up to Christmas, all of which has been postponed indefinitely. I have had 5 days work in 6 months and as I have been looking after my children I haven't been able to look for work until now, as they have just gone back to school. The only saving grace is that I have received the SEISE grant which ended at the end of August. As for as my mental health, I have been living with the constant knowledge that there is every likelihood that my savings will run out before I am able to start work properly again which will mean us being forced to sell our home at around Christmas time.