Arts Council England Emergency Relief Grant

  On 27th May, The Roaring Girls announced our successor receipt of emergency funding from Arts Council England. We are deeply grateful and relieved, as without this we may have ceased to exist by this time next year.

  There are many brilliant artists and companies who did not receive support - we're disappointed and we feel their sadness and frustration deeply. Our industry is currently being let down by our government, and many venues, organisations and individual freelancers are at risk of loosing their livelihoods. Our community has never felt stronger, yet we are in crisis.

  In the spirit of Milk Presents, we would like to offer transparency on what the money will fund for us. As always, at the heart of our company values lies honesty, openness and heart, and we always want to share those values with you, our fellow artists and audiences.

  We have received £28,871.

  Of this, the majority will go to paying our four core team members wages for the day to day running of the company; Lizi (3 days a week), Rachael (3 days), Shaunagh (2.5 days), and Sarah (2.5 days). This is the first time that we are able to provide a wage for our core team since the company's humble beginnings and as freelancers we are grateful for the opportunity to pay ourselves a wage, and to be employed by and develop the company that we have worked so hard to build as fellow artists and best friends.

  With this funding we will:

  - Hold a 3-week digital R&D for our upcoming project centred around menstruation  working with Preston Road Women's Centre and The University of Hull, as well as employing additional freelancers;

  - Access organisational development mentorship from established practitioners to continue our growth as a company;

  - Develop our podcasts with the purchase of new equipment, subscription to larger platforms, and payment for guests;

  - Offer development opportunities to our newly appointed, brilliant board;

  - The subscription to invaluable services such as Quick Books and Zoom Pro, and captioning tools to increase the accessibility of our digital content.

  We will be working at a small scale for the next six months and, alongside the above, carrying on work to rebook our cancelled tour of Beach Body Ready, currently postponed to Spring 2021. Additionally, we will continue our conversations with people in our sector and our communities, and create plans to make The Roaring Girls more sustainable in the future.

  We will continue to reflect, grow, revise and update our plans based on the needs of our community of artists and audiences, the condition of our currently fragile world, and, as ever, dedicate ourselves to being conversational, open, and vulnerable with the work that we make.

  Thank you for your support so far, we're here if you have any questions, or just fancy a chat and a virtual biscuit.

   Love and strength,

               Lizi, Rachael, Shaunagh, & Sarah