Urgent - Events Industry Support Fund 3 - Event Recovery - Closes 31 March

24th March 2022

Applications will open at 12pm on 24 March 2022 and close at 5pm on 31 March 2022.

What does this involve?
The application form will be available from Thursday 24 March, with guidance available now.

The Events Industry Support Fund 3 is for businesses in the events industry that have not previously received event-related COVID-19 business support funding. Businesses must still be trading and operating, and must have suffered a financial loss due to the cancellation or restriction of events in Scotland between 8 December 2021 and 31 March 2022 due to the Omicron restrictions.

The Events Industry Support Fund 3 is delivered by VisitScotland and its EventScotland team on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Am I eligible?
This fund is for businesses in the events industry that:

have not previously received event-related COVID-19 business support funding
are still trading and operating
have suffered a financial loss due to the cancellation or restriction of events in Scotland between 8 December 2021 and 31 March 2022 due to the Omicron restrictions (the "Events Disruption Period")
It is open to the self-employed (as a limited company or as a sole trader), partnerships and incorporated businesses.

Businesses must have a place of business in Scotland or physically operate in Scotland in order to deliver or supply to the cancelled or restricted events.

Eligible businesses should be involved in one or both of the following:

the staging or delivery of live sporting and cultural events and festivals that take place outdoors or indoors and which are open to the public to attend, participate in or spectate safely
attracting, hosting or supporting business events, incentives and conferences
To be eligible, a minimum of 25% of a business's earnings should come from either:

the direct supply to, organisation of, and/or delivery of or to events physically taking place in Scotland
the export of Scottish event expertise
This fund is intended for businesses that have not received any previous COVID-19 funding for the events sector, including businesses that were ineligible previously. A business may have been ineligible because it:

was not established or trading until after 2019/2020 (the period of eligibility for all previous COVID-19 funding for the events sector)
was unable to provide the financial evidence required for previous events-related COVID-19 funding, for example because it was a new business and didn't have published accounts for the required time period
has had a change in ownership
did not previously meet the 25% earnings threshold in the period up to 2019/2020, but can now show that it meets this threshold
did not meet the £10,000 turnover threshold in the period up to 2019/2020, but can now show that it meets this threshold
Businesses will have to show that they had an event cancelled or restricted between 8 December 2021 and 31 March 2022 and were impacted directly as a result of the COVID-19 Omicron restrictions during this period.

Businesses will also need to provide:

evidence that they are actively operating in the events sector in Scotland
detailed and verified or certified financial information to show the scale and turnover or earnings of the business
Read the full guidance document on the VisitScotland website to see if you are eligible before you apply.

What does this cost?
This is a free service.

Who is this for?
This fund is for event businesses in Scotland that were not eligible to receive any previous COVID-19 support funding.

How long does this take?
Fund guidance is available from Thursday 17 March 2022

Applications will be open from midday on Thursday 24 March 2022 to 5pm on Thursday 31 March 2022. Any applications received after this period will not be considered.

Important information
Applications will not be assessed on a first come, first served basis. 

If your application is rejected, you can appeal this decision as set out within the rejection email.

As part of the process, VisitScotland will contact the applicant.

The grant award to eligible businesses will be based on their annual earnings and when the cancelled or restricted events were due to take place.

Next steps
Go to the VisitScotland website to read the fund guidance document for eligibility criteria and submission instructions before you apply.
To apply go to - https://www.visitscotland.org/events/funding/coronavirus-support-fund