British Association for PERFORMING Arts Medicine
Sources of Financial and Practical Support
Important information about applications for financial support
BAPAM cannot guarantee that applications for support from any of the organisations listed here will be successful. Each organisation will check that you meet their eligibility criteria, which may include asking you for information about your professional and financial situation, including savings and property. Where organisations require clinical information, BAPAM can provide you with an independent, expert, confidential medical assessment and report, which you may use to support an application for financial support.
Actors’ Benevolent Fund
www.actorsbenevolentfund.co.uk
020 7836 6378
Care for actors unable to work because of poor health, an accident or frail old age.
Actors’ Children’s Trust
020 7636 7868
ACT gives grants, advice and support to help the children of professional actors. Many actors are worried about money and simply cannot afford to pay bills or their children’s costs or childcare, school meals, uniform, trips and afterschool clubs. Some families value help with special education support for children, for example a child who is dyslexic or autistic. Some parents have to go through hurdles even to get special assessments done – ACT can lobby on your behalf, or fund a private assessment. Families often go to ACT because a parent or child lives with a physical disability or has a serious illness. When an actor-parent has died, ACT can continue to fund their children through to the age of 21.
Backup
01323 524 138
Backup provides financial support to entertainment technology industry professionals who are seriously ill or injured or to their surviving family members. Grants are tailored to each individual and uses can include basic living costs, medical related expenses, transportation, and funeral expenses.
Dance Again Foundation
The Dance Again Foundation will support injured dancers and their families with immediate post injury advice and help with early rehabilitation, working with the dancer’s medical team to achieve the optimum recovery. The aim is to enable the dancer to return safely to their career.
Dancers’ Career Development
020 7831 1449
DCD offer educational advice, career coaching, emotional counselling, CV and interview guidance, grants for retraining, business start-up grants, and on-going support for current and former professional dancers throughout their career – particularly around career transitions.
Dance Professionals Fund
01273 234 011
Following the merger of the Royal Ballet Benevolent Fund and the Dance Teachers Benevolent Fund, the DPF assist present and former dance professionals with illness, injury, financial or personal difficulties.
Equity Charitable Trust
www.equitycharitabletrust.org.uk
info@equitycharitabletrust.org.uk
020 7831 1926
Equity Charitable Trust help present and past members of Equity as well as other adult professional creative practitioners and their dependents, providing welfare grants to those unable to work because of poor health, an accident or old age. The Trust also offers welfare rights and debt advice, and can provide education grants for retraining.
The Film and TV Charity
Contact us | The Film and TV Charity
0800 054 0000
The Film and TV Charity supports everyone working behind the scenes in film, TV, and cinema – from researchers to writers, people in casting and on productions, to those in post-production, sales, distribution, and exhibition.
They continue to provide its free, 24/7 Film and TV Support Line, legal advice, financial support, including Stop-Gap Grants for urgent financial needs, and our Bullying Advice Service. With many more service and resources available, the Charity have a wide range of support for your mental health, financial wellbeing, physical wellbeing and to help promote equity and inclusion in the industry. To find out more, please visit its website or call the Support Line on 0800 054 0000.
Grand Order of Water Rats Charities Fund
020 7278 3248
Among many charitable activities, the Fund help performers and their dependents who, because of old age or disability, are unable to work.
Help Musicians
020 7239 9100
Help Musicians are BAPAM’s major funder and give financial and practical support to professional musicians at all stages of their career (including degree level music students and emerging musicians). They help at times of crisis, but also at times of opportunity, giving people the extra support they need at a crucial stage in their career. Help Musicians fund mental health support for musicians including a 24 hour helpline and one to one psychotherapy through the Music Minds Matter scheme. “We help emerging professionals to develop their talent and get started in a professional career. We help existing professionals who hit a crisis in their lives which can have a devastating effect on their career and families. We help with long-term or terminal illness and we help musicians in retirement and those needing support as they grow older”.
Music Support
0800 030 6789
Music Support provide help and support for individuals in any area of the UK music industry suffering from mental health issues, addiction or emotional and behavioural health disorders. Services include a Helpline, Safe Hubs backstage at many UK festivals, workshops / training, and the Thrive App – a free NHS approved and clinically effective wellbeing app offering 24/7 support for mental health and wellbeing.
One Dance UK
020 7713 0730
One Dance UK do not grant funding but provide a wealth of practical help to dancers. Their Healthier Dancer Programme works to improve physical and psychological health in dance as a part of the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science. As well as research, events and advocacy, One Dance UK provides:
- Advice, information, and education for dancers and teachers on mental health, fitness and injury prevention for dancers
- The Healthcare Practitioners Directory, a UK wide database of healthcare practitioners and complementary therapists with experience of working with dancers
- A private healthcare plan specifically designed for dancers, the Performance Optimisation Package, which includes a health MOT, reimbursement for therapies, and access to a GP and counselling helpline
- Signposting to mental health resources and financial support
- The National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science provide NHS Dance Injury clinics in London, Birmingham and Bath
PRS Members’ Fund
020 3741 4067
PRS Members’ Fund provide support and advice to PRS members and their families, who may be struggling financially, physically or emotionally and are in need of help. Together with Help Musicians, they are a funder of the Music Minds Matter mental health scheme.
The Ralph and Meriel Richardson Foundation
The Foundation was established by Lady Meriel (Mu) Richardson after the untimely death of the Richardsons’ only son, Charles, to relieve the need, hardship or distress of British actors and actresses who have professionally practised or contributed to the Theatrical Arts (on stage, film, television or radio) and their spouses and children.
Please note that applicants for support should meet the following criteria:
– Full time actors
– Active recently solely as an actor for at least 15 years
– Meet the Foundation’s requirements as experienced actors who are ‘well established’ in the UK and well recognised in the profession
Royal Opera House Benevolent Fund
www.roh.org.uk/about/benevolent-fund
020 7212 9128
The Royal Opera House Benevolent Fund provides confidential advice, support and financial assistance to those past and present employees of the Royal Opera House and Birmingham Royal Ballet (and their dependants) who need help.
Royal Society of Musicians
www.royalsocietyofmusicians.org
020 7629 6137 The Royal Society of Musicians is Britain’s oldest music charity and its aims remain as relevant today as they were in the earliest years – to provide immediate financial assistance to musicians unable to work due to accident, illness or old age.
Royal Theatrical Fund
020 7836 3322
The Royal Theatrical Fund help stage/radio/film/TV performers who have worked professionally for over 7 years. They are unlikely to fund private healthcare, but will provide grants or monthly allowances to help pay for medical equipment, or cope with illness/infirmity.
Royal Variety Charity
020 8898 8164
Supporting all those, both young and old, who’ve worked on the stage, in the wings, in front of a camera, or behind it, as well as all those who have spent their lives working in the numerous support industries dedicated to entertainment. The Royal Variety Charity owns and manages its own residential and nursing care home for elderly entertainers, Brinsworth House in Twickenham, and also offers a nationwide grant scheme to assist those living in their own homes wherever they reside in the UK.
Stagehand – The PSA Welfare and Benevolent Fund
www.psa.org.uk/pages/about-welfare-and-benevolent-fund
020 8675 2586
Help for Production Services Association (PSA) members who encounter an injury or illness that prevents them working or forces an unplanned change of career.
Theatrical Guild
020 7240 6062
The Theatrical Guild supports those not in front of the curtain. They help crew members, electricians, stage door assistants, box office, ushers and many more all throughout the UK in times of need, assisting in a variety of ways including: offering financial support, sponsorship for education / retraining within the industry , one off grants, ongoing aid and access to counselling.
Tonic Music: Tonic Rider
www.tonicmusic.co.uk/tonic-rider
The Tonic Rider Programme aims to promote good mental health within the music industry for all musicians and music industry professionals and is available free of charge. Services include online peer support groups facilitated by mental health professionals, mental health first aid training, performance anxiety workshops, email support and information resources.
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BAPAM is a Registered Charity No. 1167785
Contact us:
London Office
63 Mansell Street, London, E1 8AN