£1.6m raised for theatre freelancers

A fundraising drive for theatre freelancers is helping to keep the profession alive, UK Theatre's Chief Executive has said.

The Theatre Artists Fund, launched at the start of July, has now raised £1.6m. £500,000 of this came from Netflix.

Julian Bird said thousands of freelancers were unable to make money until theatres reopen fully and details of the Government's £1.57bn bailout package are announced.

"In lieu of details on how the investment package will be disseminated, we need to raise a lot more money and we need to do it fast, if we are to encourage people to stay in their professions and not abandon this wonderful sector."