UK - A petition has been launched urging the UK government to offer economic assistance to the events industry during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Instigated by Matt Rakowski of DBpixelhouse, the petition’s aim is: “For the UK government to provide economic assistance to businesses and staff employed in the events industry, who are suffering unforeseen financial challenges that could have a profound effect on hundreds of thousands of people employed in the sector.”
To-date, the petition has been signed over 131,000 times – surpassing the 100,000-signature threshold required for the issue to be considered for debate in parliament.
Rakowski comments: “The response has been phenomenal so far, we’re at just over 131,000 – which, considering we launched on Thursday evening, is a remarkable achievement, although not surprising considering how many people work in our industry.”
“I’d like to take this opportunity to request we keep this matter at the top of the news agenda for our industry. The current climate looks as though things are only likely to get worse over the coming weeks and months. It’s vital that we stick together as an industry and do everything we can to mitigate the fallout from the current situation.”
“I have written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister, my local MP and various members of the cabinet and the shadow cabinet. The content of my letter was to lay out my suggestions on how the government can provide economic assistance during this turbulent time for the industry.”
Rakowski urges anyone working in events and affected by the current situation to take action to help safeguard the industry. “The 131,000 signatures on our petition is simply an arbitrary number if we don’t use that as a mandate to pressurize the government into taking decisive action. The time for this is now. Not tomorrow, next week or in a bit. Businesses in our industry are facing the prospect of many months with little to no income. This will have an impact on the highly skilled and talented staff employed in the events sector. We cannot be too bold or radical in our approach to make government sit up and take notice.”
The petition can be found and signed here.

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