Stop Gap Grants

Immediate support to help manage urgent financial needs

Our Stop Gap Grants can provide you with immediate support to help manage urgent financial needs

Our grant is there to help during times of financial shortfall. We have to carefully consider where the financial need is most acute and where our limited grants will have the greatest impact.

We would highly recommend that before you apply for a Stop Gap Grant you explore other means of managing your income, expenditure, and any debt:

  • Please complete a budget plan to have a clear record of your financial situation. You could contact our 24-hour Support Line on 0800 054 0000, asking for some financial guidance around reducing outgoings, benefits, arrears and debt. They may also point out other potential sources of financial support.
  • If you are in arrears with priority bills (such as your rent, mortgage, utilities, or council tax) you should contact your landlord, mortgage or utility provider, or local council. You may be able to arrange a repayment plan, a payment holiday or sign up to the Mortgage Charter.
  • For free, confidential debt advice, contact Stepchange or the National Debtline.
  • Please complete a benefit checker to ascertain whether you are entitled to any benefits. The charity may not be in a position to award a grant where a statutory benefit is available.
  • The Charity may decide not to provide a grant where there are accessible savings (see our guidance for excluded savings) or household income
To be eligible to apply you must:
  • Work in a behind-the-scenes role in film or television in the UK
  • Be involved in creating or distributing entertainment that is shown in cinemas, broadcast on UK TV channels or on-demand services, or streamed on pay-to-view digital platforms.
  • Not be an actor, presenter or other onscreen talent.

How long do you need to have been working in the industry?

You will have had at least 40 days of paid work in the last 18 months or have worked at least two years in film and TV and are seeking funding to return to work after a career break.

Support for cinema workers:

We provide limited support to front-of-house cinema workers, including free access to our Support Line and online resources, but are only able to provide financial support including our stop-gap grants to individuals from back office or technical teams that have worked full-time in the cinema trade for at least 18 months in the last two years.

Please read our full eligibility criteria and guidance to find out more before completing your application below.

Full eligibility criteria and guidance

 

Stop Gap Grant Application

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Overview

Thank you for your interest in the Stop Gap Grant, a one-off grant of up to £750 to meet urgent need. Our awards will be prioritised to those who are experiencing the greatest need and have the least financial resilience. 


We can currently only fund those in immediate need with no available or alternative source of income, benefits or accessible savings. Please only proceed with the application if you are unable to meet your expenses, otherwise please feel free to apply in future if you find yourself in deficit.


The form consists of the following sections:

  • Our eligibility checklist
  • Your personal details
  • Your professional experience
  • Your current financial situation and needs, including a budget form
  • Your agreement and declaration

To apply for the grant, you will need three pieces of evidence:

  • At least one online profile from either BFI, IMDb, Screenskills, Mandy or Talent Manager. If you don't have any of these then we can consider, at our discretion LinkedIn or similar. Vimeo or YouTube is not preferred as a source of evidence 
  • Documentation such as three payslips, P45 or P60, or at least three remittance advice or contracts 
  • Current CV including details of your last three jobs
  • You will also need to provide a professional referee
You will also need access to:
  • Basic details of your work history
  • Basic details of your current finances (including any income, expenditure, debts, and savings)

You can save your application form at any point and return to it later by clicking on save my progress and resume later. You will be asked to set up a password so you can return to the application form at a later date.


If you require support to complete this form or have any questions, please contact the Grants Team at [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria

Please carefully read through the following statements, and tick to confirm that you have understood, and that the statement applies to your circumstances.

Please note: You will need to provide evidence of employment. This may include professional online profiles such as IMDB, Talent Manager or Mandy, a series of payslips, invoices, P45s, P60s and or contracts and call sheets.


Please note: You will need to upload photo ID such as a passport, driving licence or residency permit, clearly showing your picture, name and date of birth.
We may require evidence that you have approached your creditors or providers to discuss repayments etc.
We can currently only fund those in immediate need with no available or alternative source of income, access to benefits or savings. Please only proceed with the application if you are unable to meet your expenses, otherwise please feel free to apply in future if you find yourself in deficit.
If you are struggling with finances, there is advice and support available to help. Please seek expert advice before applying for a grant. We may not be able to award a grant if an applicant have not taken up guidance or advice. You could seek independent financial advice or contact your local CAB or our Support Line (0800 054 0000) for financial guidance. Stepchange and the National Debt Line provide free, confidential debt advice. 
You may be eligible for statutory benefits. Please use our Benefits Calculator tool to help understand what support you may be eligible for before applying. We may not be able to award a grant if an applicant have not applied for available statutory benefits.
Accessible savings do not include: Funds set aside to cover tax or NI liabilities for the previous tax year or for work already completed and paid in the current tax year, Funds in officially designated pension schemes, Funds in junior ISAs for dependent children, Funds in a Lifetime ISA.

Personal Details

Your personal details will be kept confidential, as defined in the agreement and declaration section.

If your application is successful and you're offered a grant, we will carry out identity checks and collect more information from you, including your banking details.  
Files(s) must be PDF or JPG

Professional Experience

Please provide evidence of your work by listing online credits, uploading your CV or telling us more about your situation. 
Files(s) must be PDF or JPG
Files(s) must be PDF or JPG
Please provide any evidence of your work by sharing the link to at least one of the following profile below.  
It is rare that we contact referees, but we reserve the right to do so to progress applications. However, applicants will be advised prior to us doing so. We will not disclose that an applicant is applying for a grant, only that we need a basic reference confirming employment.

Your Financial Situation

We would like to understand your personal situation so that we can assess how we can best help. If we're unable to help via this fund, we may be able to support in another way.
Tell us about your current income
Please tell us about your current income and financial commitments. You can do this by using our Budget Planner. Use the MoneyHelper tool on our website to tell us as much information as you can about what you earn and how much you spend on household and living costs.

Please only supply information related to your current situation and household income, and only include your priority outgoings. This should also include any benefits that you may be in receipt of (including child benefit). 

Visit filmtvcharity.org.uk/your-support/financial-support/managing-your-money and scroll down the page to complete the Budget Planner. Once you've finished, click Download Spreadsheet for a copy of your completed budget. Please also remember to enter spouse/partner/household income under ‘other income’ when completing the budget tool.

Please follow the steps above to complete the budget planner. We cannot progress your application unless you submit a completed budget plan from our website. Unfortunately we cannot accept other formats. If you need additional support, please email [email protected] and a member of our team will be able to assist you.
Files(s) must be PDF or JPG
Tell us about any debt you have
Tell us about any accessible savings you have
Tell us about any other support you may be applying for

Your Application

Please answer a few more questions about your application.
Additional support

We also offer a Work and Wellbeing Advice Service. 

You can work closely with our advisors over a three-month period to see what’s holding you back, think through the options and get back on track. There’s support and guidance with anything from debt to housing to mental health worries. We can also sort out career guidance with friendly professionals, who have lots of experience in our industry, including managing and hiring. 

If you'd like to find out more about this service, please register your interest and a member of our team will be in touch. 

Agreement and Declaration

Please read the following carefully.

I hereby declare that all questions contained in this form have been fully and truthfully answered to the best of my ability. I understand that the details disclosed on this form by me will be held by The Film and TV Charity under the terms of the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 (GDPR) for the purpose of assessing and evaluating my application. In submitting this form, I give The Film and TV Charity consent to contact me about any information submitted. 

The Film and TV Charity will treat all your personal information as private and confidential in line with our Privacy Policy. 

We need to ensure our funding reaches those who really need it and so, as with many funding schemes, we have a framework to guard against fraud. Part or all of the information you give us will be held on an internal grants management system for the administration of applications and awards. We may also use this information for the evaluation of our services. We may provide copies of the information in confidence to further individuals or organisations who are helping us to undertake eligibility checks, assess applications or monitor funding.

We may use a credit reference agency to validate information you have provided in your application. This is not a credit check and will not affect your ability to receive credit from other organisations. The credit reference agency we use may keep a record of the information, and may disclose the fact that a search of its records was made to its other clients, in order to stop fraud. 

By submitting an application, you are providing your informed consent (permission) for us to share information in this way and for us to to run such an identity verification check, including its access, use and storage. If you have knowingly provided false or inaccurate information to us at any point, we will provide details to fraud prevention agencies.
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Monitoring Information

Please complete the following monitoring forms so that we can better understand who we have helped and who we were unable to help. 


All information herein will be kept separately from any funding applications you may submit, and the monitoring information will not be used in the assessment of your application. 


We will not discriminate against individuals who decide not to complete the form. 


If you do not wish to disclose your information, you can choose prefer not to say for every question.

Disability & Neurodivergence
The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long- term effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities. Please tell us if you consider yourself to have  disability.
Sex and gender
Sexual identity
Ethnic origin
Religion/Belief
Age
Socioeconomic
Returnships
Nationality

Ineligible Applicant

The Film and Television Charity supports anyone working in a behind-the-scenes role that contributes to the creation, distribution, or commercial exploitation of moving image entertainment content in the UK film, television, and cinema industry.


We are currently experiencing a very high demand for financial assistance and can currently only fund those in immediate need with no available or alternative source of income, access to benefits or savings. We are sorry, but at this moment in time the Charity will not be able to offer you a grant.


Please review the information, guidance, and resources below which could help you to manage and provide alternative options at this difficult time. You can re-apply for any eligible grant in the future should your current situation not improve.


  • You could complete a budget plan to have a clear record of your financial situation and to better understand where your money goes. Click here for ideas to maximise your income and reduce expenditure.
  • MoneyHelper have developed a bill prioritiser to help you prioritise your payments in the right order. The tool will also give you useful information about what you need to do if you're struggling to pay before you miss a payment.
  • If you are in arrears with priority bills (such as your rent, mortgage, utilities, or council tax) you should consider contacting your landlord, mortgage or utility provider, or local council.
    • You may be able to apply for financial support such as a Hardship Grant or Discretionary Housing Payment (for council tax, rent and utilities).
    • You may be able to arrange a repayment plan, a payment holiday or sign up to the Mortgage Charter. Shelter and The Money Helper have advice and resources to help you deal with arrears.
    • Lightning Reach and Ask Bill are organisations that help find schemes and grants for arrears.

  • For free, confidential debt advice, you can contact Stepchange or the National Debtline.
  • You could contact our 24-hour Support Line on 0800 054 0000, asking for some financial guidance around reducing outgoings, benefits, arrears and debt. They may also point out other potential sources of financial support.
  • Financial concerns can lead to stress, anxiety and depression. There is also evidence that having poor mental health increases your risk of falling into arrears and debt. If your money worries are getting you down, or your mental health affects your ability to deal with bills, debt or credit repayments or responding to reminder letters please call our 24-hour Support Line on 0800 054 0000, where you can access free, confidential counselling with a fully qualified counsellor.
  • Screenskills has a series of articles on portfolio careers, perhaps these could be of some help in finding work outside of TV, but still making use of your skills?
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