#WeMakeEvents moves towards Survival in the Square posted: 23/10/2020
Over the last five months, the #WeMakeEvents campaign has been tirelessly raising awareness around the current plight facing the live entertainment sector and its urgent need for financial support if it is to survive the Covid-19 crisis. With the introduction of tier systems and the continued local lockdowns, this means that hosting live events has become even more difficult than before. As such, the campaign is continuing to make its voice heard and will continue raising as much awareness as possible, as seen with the Survival in the Square creative activation which will take place later this month.
Over the past few weeks, #WeMakeEvents has organised a range of high profile activations which have made headlines across the globe. Following on from the initial #LightItInRed day back in July, the first Day of Action took place on 11th August which saw some of London's most iconic landmarks lit up in red along with those across the regions to highlight the crisis. Similarly, last month's Global Day of Action saw more than 25 countries across the globe light their buildings in red to show solidarity, as well as other creative activations emphasising how the industry is being impacted on a global scale.
Gary White, Lead Producer of #WeMakeEvents, comments. The latest government support packages, although welcome, are not reaching those who need them the most and will only benefit a small group. Larger, more meaningful action needs to be taken and, until it does, we will still be here campaigning.
The next activation for the campaign is Survival in the Square. Taking place from W/C October 26th, this will be a series of creative activations that will take place each day in Parliament Square, socially distanced and COVID-compliant. The activations consist of a variety of genres from across the Performing Arts spectrum.
Supporting the Survival in the Square Activations will be West End Waiting. The West End Waiting Facebook group was created to bring people in the performing arts and events industry together, says Lee Durnford, founder of the group. The original idea was for us to be able to discuss relevant topics and give each other support. The group has grown to just over 12,000 members and we have a collective of West End musical directors, stage managers and choreographers who meet on a regular basis to place and create peaceful activations to create awareness of the plight of the performing arts.
With Survival in the Square, we truly want to showcase the diversity of performance and just how far the live events industry stretches, Gary explains. We want to display to Parliament the spectrum of skills and talent involved with live events, which cross over into the hospitality sector yet aren't eligible for any of the hospitality funds recently announced by the Government
We need to ensure that the Government realises what we bring to the UK economically and culturally. We will be a good return on investment for the future, and that we will continue to campaign until there is sufficient support for everyone involved in our industry'.
About #WeMakeEvents
Our industry is important and contributes billions of pounds each year to the UK economy. Due to COVID-19 it needs immediate help. We want our future to continue to create millions of memories with the stories to match - it's what we do best.
Without significant and immediate support, the entire live entertainments sector supply chain is at risk of collapse. #WeMakeEvents is a campaign to raise public, government and media awareness in support of the live events sector which employs over circa 1,000,000 highly skilled people in the UK, all of whom have had no work for the past four months, with little likelihood of restarting until Spring 2021.
The campaign is being run by a large and growing industry collective of trade bodies, businesses and freelancers affected by the shutdown, all working together. It spans online and social messaging, video, case studies and legal outdoor events to gain media attention, with specific activities having occurred on 11th August and the Global Action Day on 30th September, our voice is beginning to be heard.
Our aim is to have significant financial support extended for the people and companies in this sector until they can return to work. We call on you to stand as one, unitied in our common cause to save our industry. Join our campaign #WeMakeEvents to get the UK Government to act now for immediate and sustained financial support by visiting #WeMakeEvents.
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#WeMakeEvents moves towards Survival in the Square posted: 23/10/2020 
