Jack Garratt has become an ambassador for the live music charity Stagehand and is set to raise awareness for the organisation in the coming months.
The charity was founded in 1998 by the Production Services Association and provides financial support to members of the PSA, which encompasses all aspects of live music production.
Garratt will helpStagehand with various projects in the foreseeable future. This week he began an Instagram Live conversation series that will raise awareness for the charity.
His first guest was Joe Wicks, while he will also be joined by the likes of Fearne Cotton and Mumford & Sons’ Ben Lovett for future sessions to discuss the importance of live events to British culture.
On February 19, the singer-songwriter will also hold a special one-off acoustic livestream that will celebrate five years of his debut album, Phase. Production for the show, which will be filmed at London’s Village Underground, will be funded by Island Records and Universal as a charitable donation towards Stagehand.
At present, Stagehand is raising funds for their Covid-19 Crew Relief Fund, including the #ILoveLive campaign.
The Stagehand Covid-19 Crew Relief Fund has achieved its target of raising £1m by the end of 2020 and now looks to build on the £1.17 million raised in order to continue supporting live events industry workers experiencing hardship in 2021.
Stagehand is the only UK charity that specifically helps music stage and road crew, and has issued over 900 grants, but there are many more live events industry workers who are in urgent need of support, with thousands facing serious hardship.
The problem is intensified by the nature of the industry; over 60% of its workforce are freelancers and over 20% of all crew do not qualify for any Government support, meaning many skilled professionals have been forgotten during the pandemic.
A second #ILoveLive Crowdfunder Prize Draw Campaign will launch today and is already attracting some significant artists. Acts including The 1975, Foo Fighters and Jack Garratt will donate unique prizes.
The #ILoveLive campaign was spearheaded by artist manager and promoter David Stopps with Andy Lenthall and Mike Lowe at Stagehand.
“We know that when live shows can take place again in financially viable ways, the industry will be extremely busy,” said Mike Lowe, the Chair of Stagehand’s Board of Trustees.
“Artists, festivals and venues just want to get back to work and the public are hungry to see live entertainment again. No live show of any kind can happen without the skills and expertise of the army of live events workers. I am sure that the live events industry workers who we can help, will join me and my fellow trustees in expressing our massive appreciation for making all of this happen in the most difficult and unprecedented of times.”